Archaeological Report - Moyveela 3, Co. Galway (Ireland)

This report analyses the individual structures and researches the historical and social
…

This report analyses the individual structures and researches the historical and social
background of a clachan settlement, a portion of which was excavated, at Moyveela be-
tween 4 March and 12 April 2008. The five buildings and associated features excavated
represents part of a larger pre-famine clachan settlement likely to have been constructed
by a group of tenant farmers from the Moyveela Estate. The clachan was probably aban-
doned prior to the Great Famine of 1845–49 as it is not depicted on the Ordnance Survey
first edition map.

7.
List of Figures
Figure 1: Discovery series Ordnance Survey map showing the route of the new N18
Oranmore to Gort road and the location of all the excavation sites� The excavation
site at Moyveela 3 is highlighted� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2
Figure 2: Plan of the entire building group produced from a digital survey of the area� ������������������ 3
Figure 3: The route of the new N18 Oranmore to Gort road overlaid on the first edition
Ordnance Survey map (Sheet GA096)� The excavation site at Moyveela 3 is also
highlighted� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
Figure 4: Griffith valuation map which is an annotated version of the Ordnance Survey first
edition map� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 14
Figure 5: Extract from Taylor and Skinner’s 1783 road map showing the estate house
owned by Vandelure Esq����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 17
Figure 6: The route of the new N18 Oranmore to Gort road overlaid on the 25 inch
Ordnance Survey map (Sheet GA096)� The excavation site at Moyveela 3 is also
highlighted� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 18
Figure 7: The route of the new N18 Oranmore to Gort road overlaid on the Record of
Monuments and Places map which is based on second edition Ordnance Survey
map (Sheet GA096)� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 19
Figure 8: Overall plan of the excavated areas at Moyveela showing the five main buildings
and associated features� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������23
Figure 9: Post-excavation plan of building 1� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������25
Figure 10: Post-excavation plan of buildings 2 and 5� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������28
Figure 11: Post-excavation plan of buildings 3 and 4� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������30
List of Plates
Plate 1: General view of the excavation site looking south through the trees� ��������������������������������20
Plate 2: Looking south-east across the larger of the two excavation areas� ��������������������������������������21
Plate 3: Looking south-west across building 1� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������22
Plate 4: Looking east across building 1� �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������24
Plate 5: Looking north-west across building 2� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������26
Plate 6: Looking east across building 2� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������27
�
Plate 7: Looking west across building 3� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 31
Plate 8: Looking east across building 3 �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������32
�
Plate 9: Looking east across building 4� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������33
�
Plate 10: Looking east across building 5� �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������34
Plate 11: Looking west across building 5� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������34
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Summary
This report analyses the individual structures and researches the historical and social
background of a clachan settlement, a portion of which was excavated, at Moyveela be-
tween 4 March and 12 April 2008. The five buildings and associated features excavated
represents part of a larger pre-famine clachan settlement likely to have been constructed
by a group of tenant farmers from the Moyveela Estate. The clachan was probably aban-
doned prior to the Great Famine of 1845–49 as it is not depicted on the Ordnance Survey
first edition map.
Townland Moyveela
Parish Athenry/Stradbally
Barony Dunkellin
County Galway
Ministerial Order Number A045
E Number E3907
Ordnance Survey Map Sheet GA95
National Grid Reference 145363/223709
Elevation 10.5m OD
Site Type Clachan
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1 Introduction
This report constitutes the final excavation report for a portion of a clachan excavated
in the townland of Moyveela, Co. Galway (Fig 1). The site was excavated as part of the
archaeological excavation programme in advance of construction for N18 Oranmore to
Gort road scheme. The site was located within the lands acquired for the new road and
was identified by field-walking during Phase 1 (E3723) investigations along the route. A
survey of the entire clachan, including the area outside the lands acquired for the new
road, identified sixteen buildings, and three of these were located within the lands ac-
quired for the new road. The excavations revealed the presence of two more buildings –
thus five in total were excavated within the lands acquired for the new road, along with
other related features, including a bank, a trackway, a pavement and platforms. The total
number of buildings identified within the clachan is 18 (Fig 2) and this, based on the
excavation results, can be viewed as a minimum number.
2 Background to the scheme
The N18 Oranmore to Gort (Glenbrack to Rathmorrissey) national road scheme was
approved by An Bórd Pleanála on 7th June 2007. The development will consist of ap-
proximately 27.2 km of dual carriageway, and all associated works. The area of archaeo-
logical investigations lies within the footprint of the proposed scheme as defined by the
Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) published by Galway County Council on 1st August
2006. Eachtra Archaeological Projects was commissioned by Galway County Council to
undertake Phase 1 archaeological testing and Phase 2 excavation of sites directly affected
by the proposed development.
3 Topography geology hydrology
The underlying geology in the surrounding area is Carboniferous limestone of the Burren
and Tubber formations bordered by Namurian shales and sandstones to the west, in Co.
Clare, and Devonian old red sandstone to the east, in the Slieve Aughty uplands. Glacial
till overlies the bedrock to varying depths (0–5 m) and the soils derived from the till are
generally shallow brown earths. The topsoils are characteristically thin and dry but, en-
riched by the limestone parent material, support moderately good grass pastures. There
are boulder fields and expanses of bedrock exposure typical of karst limestone country.
Turloughs and swallow holes are features of areas with an underlying limestone bed-
rock which enables the ground-water and water table to produce sometimes perplexing
drainage systems. A large turlough is shown on the Ordnance Survey first edition map
in the south western portion of Coldwood townland and encompasses parts of the town-
lands of Moyveela and Ballinillaun (Fig 3). Two small lakes are also shown, namely Poul-
nakirka and Poulawartin. The turlough and lakes were fed by the Lavally river from the
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north-east. A river exits towards the sea at Clarinbridge from the south-west side of the
turlough and is marked as the Clarin river. The river was later dredged and canalised and
the lands once covered by the turlough were divided into large regular fields.
4 Methodology – research
The site-specific research consisted of a document search of the following resources for
Co. Galway:
• National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
• Record of Monuments and Places of County Galway 1998
• Irish Wills Index 1484–1858
• Burial Records of Galway and Mayo pre-1901
• Griffith Valuation – ‘Primary Valuation of Tenements’ 1857
• Cartographic and written sources (see opposite).
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) records a representative sam-
ple of buildings and structures of architectural importance on a county by county basis.
Inclusion in the NIAH does not automatically afford statutory protection, but does high-
light the importance of these structures in terms of their architectural and built heritage
value. At present there is an NIAH produced for 20 complete counties in Ireland and
also north Cork, east Cork and one each for Cork and Limerick Cities. The Phase 3 field-
work for the NIAH for County Galway is currently being undertaken in 2009 and will
produce the subsequent published inventory. In addition to the publications, the NIAH
information can also be consulted online. Although the Phase 3 architectural survey has
not yet been published for Galway, the Survey of Historic Gardens and Designed Land-
scapes can be viewed online for Galway.
Record of Monuments and Places for Co. Galway
The Record of Monuments and Places is a list of archaeological sites whose location is
known by the National Monuments Section of the Department of the Environment Her-
itage and Local Government (DEHLG). These archaeological sites can also include items
of built heritage, such as medieval and post-medieval structures. The post-medieval pe-
riod generally applies to sites which are post-1700s in date and can include items such
as bridges, vernacular dwellings and period style country houses. Files relating to these
known sites are available for consultation in the Sites and Monuments Record, which pro-
vides detail of documentary sources and field inspections where these have taken place.
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Irish Wills Index 1484–1858
The Irish Wills Index (1484–1858) is preserved in the National Archives of Ireland. The
main records (not the indexes) were sent to the Principal Registry in the Four Courts,
Dublin, after 1858, where they were destroyed by a fire in 1922 (Byrne 2004, 327). For-
tunately, extracts from wills were compiled in the 19th century by Sir William Betham
and an extensive collection of wills have also been assembled by the National Archives,
courtesy of solicitors’ offices throughout the state (ibid). Although there was no relevant
information recovered for the Ffrench or Vandeleur families, Andrew Browne of Mount-
hazel (formerly of Moyveela) is seen as having made his Will in 1820. Unfortunately a
date of death is not registered.
Burial Records of Galway and Mayo pre-1901
The burial records for Galway and Mayo were researched for the Browne and Vandeleur
families. These burial records are limited and contain only 8,400 names covering the
years from the mid-19th to the early 20th century. There were no burial records recovered
that were relevant to the study.
Griffith Valuation – ‘Primary Valuation of Tenements’ 1857
Griffith’s Valuation is technically known as the Primary Valuation of Tenements and was
completed in Ireland under the direction of Richard Griffith between 1847 and 1864.
This nationwide survey was undertaken to assess payment of various local taxes by the
people of Ireland. Tax was calculated based on the value of property occupied (Byrne
2004, 140). These records are important as the 19th century census in Ireland is thought
to have been destroyed when the Public Records Office was burnt down in the Civil
War in 1922. The Griffith Valuation is therefore a census substitute for mid 19th-century
Ireland in the years between the Great Famine and the beginning of civil registration in
1864. Griffith’s Valuation of County Galway was undertaken in 1856 and published in
1857 (ibid, 142).
Cartographic sources
The list of maps consulted are as follows:
• Taylor and Skinner’s road maps 1783
• Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map 1838
• Ordnance Survey twenty-five inch map 1895
• Ordnance Survey second edition six-inch map 1929
• Record of Monuments and Places Map (Reduced Ordnance Survey six-inch sec-
ond edition)
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Written sources
The Ordnance Survey Name Books, which were written in tandem with the survey for
the first edition six inch maps of 1841–2 (engraved 1844). They provide information about
townland names and other named features of architectural, archaeological and topo-
graphical importance, which appear on the first edition maps. The detail given on each
subject appears to depend very much upon the recorders interest.
The Ordnance Survey Name Books, Ordnance Survey Letters and Ordnance Survey
Memoirs are three separate sets of records that deal with similar subjects with a variation
in detail. The Ordnance Survey Letters give information on archaeological sites, local
facts of interest and the weather but they are somewhat less detailed for the counties that
were surveyed last. The Memoirs are similar to the letters but sometimes have more de-
tailed information. The Memoirs only exist for some counties as the rest were destroyed
in the Four Courts in 1922 during the Civil War. The entries are arranged by parish in
all three books and in alphabetical order of each townland therein. The Ordnance Survey
Letters for Galway revealed some brief references to Moyveela.
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5 Historical background
Landscape in 17th to 19th century Ireland
Ireland had been viewed by the English and French as a western annexe long before the
Tudor Plantations AD 1550–1600. Ireland underwent a complete transformation dur-
ing the 17th century from a relatively weak economy based upon limited raw exports, a
basic agrarian order and little technological innovation, to a stronger, more structured
economy, with technological and social advances.
By the beginning of the 17th century the population was c. 1 million (Aalen et al
2000, 67) and by 1785 it had doubled and trade had increased ten fold (Mitchell & Ryan
1998, 327). Extensive road and canal building had improved the infrastructure and trade
networks.
Colonisation by the English state advanced Ireland into a commercial world in the
north Atlantic, however, this was at the expense of all social classes of the Irish popula-
tion. The native upper classes were largely ousted from their land and replaced by a British
Protestant landed class. According to Aalen (2000, 67), ‘this landed class was able to play
a pivotal role in the economic, political and social life of the country over the next two
centuries.’
The landed estates in Ireland were unique and were essentially components of one,
large commercial system controlled by the English state. In order to quantify the land-
scape areas, the English began to survey and subsequently map out the estates within
each county. The work was undertaken as the Irish Civil Survey of 1654–5. The purpose
of the survey was to secure information on the location, type, value and ownership of
lands. Twenty-seven counties were surveyed in total, including Galway. This was closely
followed by the Down Survey of 1655–6 which was a measured map survey of the lands
confiscated and was managed by Sir William Petty.
The planters were each given a landed estate which was funded by the rent paying
tenant class of the native population – all parts of the land were affected. Moyveela
was no exception, being transferred to the ownership of the Browne family, during the
Cromwellian settlement. The Brownes were of Anglo-Norman origin and had been
pushed out into rural Galway by the arrival of a new Cromwellian and Protestant elite
into Galway city.
It is likely that the first tenant dwellings were simple botháns which were essentially
crude cabins with mud and stone walls and a thatched roof. These were typically one
roomed dwellings with no chimneys and instead the smoke from the hearth would rise
through a hole in the thatched roof. It is likely that many such dwellings had a short
lifespan due to their poor materials and methods of construction. These buildings began
to appear in settlement clusters, on poor or marginal land, for which they paid rent to
the landowner. These nucleated settlements are known as clachans and most would have
been established in pre-Famine times; however, while many would have been abandoned
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prior to or during the famine years there are still traces of these settlements visible in the
landscape of today.
Clachans
The clachan is a type of rural farming settlement common in Ireland from the 17th to
the early 19th century and the term may derive from the gaelic clochán meaning ‘(old)
stone structure’. Clachans were basically a cluster of vernacular houses and outbuildings
where a small community of people farmed together. There was no church, shop or other
service facility and the inhabitants were often part of an extended family (McAfee 2004,
211). The buildings were typically arranged in a random manner, usually connected by
a narrow lane or road However some clachans had a more regular arrangement along a
routeway or a central open area. Generally clachans were concentrated in hill and moun-
tain areas as well as peninsulas and also along rivers and lakes. A recent survey in the
Glens of Antrim revealed that within the study are of fifty clachans, 74% of inhabitants
were directly related to farming with the remainder being ‘coastguard, sailor, shepherd,
gamekeeper, blacksmith, flax scutcher, carpenter, butcher, grocer, shoemaker, stonema-
son, limestone quarrymen, seamstress, dressmaker, coachman and the ubiquitous house-
wife’ (AHS 2007, online). The survey also highlights the improved education status of the
children compared to that of their parents.
There was strong growth in the Irish economy during the late 18th and early 19th cen-
turies (Duffy et al 2000, 88). Broadly speaking, the east of the country and the midlands
were considered good agricultural land and suited to tillage, dairying and cattle fattening
whereas the north-east had a viable linen industry (Whelan 2000, 70). From the 17th cen-
tury estate owners in the east had systematically enclosed their fields resulting in ‘rectilin-
ear fieldscapes’ that were highly productive and contributed to better farming practices.
The remainder of the country was classified as a small farm region and supported the
clachan and rundale farming practice (ibid, 80).
Export conditions were favourable and Britain was a good market for grain, cattle and
butter. The relative prosperity of the country was seen by the growth in population from
c. 2 million in 1750 to c. 4.5 million in 1790. Roads and canals were built connecting the
countryside to Dublin and this further encouraged economic growth (Ryan & Mitchell
1998, 328). Foster’s Corn Law (1784) introduced an incentive for the Irish to grow grain
for the British market and grain exports were recorded as increasing by twelvefold from
1780 to 1820 (Byrne 2004, 82). The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) ensured demand for
grain as long as war continued. The use of the potato as a food source became widespread
and it quickly substituted corn as a consumable, leaving the grain to grow as a cash crop
for export. Despite the massive grain production and the introduction of the potato, there
was still famine recorded along the western seaboard of Ireland in 1800 and again in 1807
(Hickey & Doherty 2005, 145).
In an historical context, the emergence of the clachan style habitation arose from the
new found ability of the Irish to create a living in poor, marginal land. This was a direct
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result of the introduction of the potato into the country (Whelan 2000, 84). The potato
is a nutritious, healthy food and was easily grown on relatively poor soils. The use of
lazy-bed cultivation was adopted and this maximised the use of ground for growing the
potato crop. In particular, the ‘lumper’ variety required little fertiliser and was therefore
easy to grow in hostile conditions (ibid, 88). Grain crops for individual consumption were
replaced with the ‘easier to manage’ potato and a monoculture developed. The population
in Ireland increased dramatically in the early nineteenth century where census figures
recorded 6.8 million in 1821 to over 8.1 million in 1841 (Hickey & Doherty 2005, 401).
The fact that people could now survive in a marginal environment undoubtedly helped to
boost the population figures. This undoubtedly also served to curb emigration as people
could create a living in a relatively unfertile environment.
The type of farming practised by a clachan community was known as rundale and
reached its peak in the early 19th century, prior to the Great Famine 1845–49 The rundale
system is subsistence-based utilising a shared arable field (known as the infield) around
the clachan which was divided into individual allotments. Closer to the dwellings, small
enclosed kitchen gardens (garraí) were tilled. A commonage area (known as the outfield)
was used by members of the clachan for animal grazing and occasional cultivation (Ryan
& Mitchell 1998, 337). The system of booleying was adopted whereby summer grazing of
livestock was transferred to mountain pastures (Byrne 2004, 38). The practice of tran-
shumance was common in this type of society and people constructed temporary huts,
known as booley huts, in order to stay with the animals. A similar type of ridge and furrow
farming to the rundale was in existence in Scotland at this time and was known as the
runrig system (Hall 1982, 21). The Scottish system also practised transhumance where
they built shielings in the mountain pastures for summer accommodation.
These farmers were primarily concerned with livestock rearing and cultivation of
crops was very much of secondary importance. The infield resource was managed as the
individual strips/allotments were regularly redistributed so everyone had an equal chance
to make the most of the land (Whelan 2000, 80). Manure was used to fertilise the crops
so there was a direct relationship between the number of animals and the size of an indi-
vidual’s share of the infield (ibid, 81). This was a very balanced system of farming and it is
easy to understand how the rundale could collapse if the clachan size increased too much.
The end of the Napoleonic Wars (1815) marked a downturn in the Irish economy.
Many landlords fell into debt as export markets slumped. The west of the country was
worst hit during the recession of the post-Napoleonic Wars and famine is recorded along
the western seaboard in 1817, 1821–22, 1830–34, 1836 and 1839. The six famine years
of the 1830s appear to have been a build up to the Great Famine of 1845–1849 which
brought widespread devastation amongst the Irish population. There was a huge decrease
in population to 6.6 million recorded in the census of 1851 and reducing again to 5.8
million in 1861.
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Post-famine Reconstruction
After the Famine, the rundale system went into rapid decline and was replaced in many
cases by the ladder farm. In this case, the large open infields and outfields were divided
into narrow strips running from the ‘valley bottoms to hill margins’ and further divided
by cross-fences. Each farmer was allocated a land strip holding proportionate to his run-
dale share and also received a share of the mountain commonage. At first individual
landlords and then the Congested Districts Board (1891) was in charge of dividing the
holdings, and when dissolved by the Irish Free State government (1923), its functions were
taken over by the Land Commission (Hickey & Doherty 2005, 81). This consolidation
of landholdings led to the demise of the clachan system. Also, according to The Clach-
an Survey project, two other contributing factors were emigration and the increasing
number of unmarried males. In both these instances the rundale shares would eventually
be amalgamated with that of a relative or other landholder resulting in further consolida-
tion of the former rundale system.
It is also likely that, after the improved harvests of the post-Famine years, some people
would have become tenant farmers on the good land of the landed estates. It is likely that
some reconstruction took place on the estates with new farm buildings being constructed
to house the surviving population of the famine. This may have caused a shift in the re-
quirement of cottiers on the estates who had previously rented houses from the landlord
and were paid for their work on the estates. The Griffith Valuation (1857) shows that the
area of the Clachan settlement at Moyveela had been abandoned and does not appear to
be depicted on the first edition Ordnance Survey map nor is it listed in the valuations
records.
Placename Information
The townland of Moyveela is located in the parishes of both Athenry and Stradbally, in
the Barony of Dunkellin, which covers an area of south-west Galway including Ardra-
han, Clarinbridge, Craughwell and Oranmore and has a coastline along the eastern side
of Galway Bay. The name Moyveela has been anglicised from the Irish Má Bhile. The
prefix of the townland name derives from Má meaning ‘plain’ and the suffix Bhile refers
to a sacred tree (Flanagan & Flanagan 1994, 30–31). Therefore, Moyveela or Má Bhile
translates to ‘Plain of the sacred tree.’ The tradition of a sacred tree at Moyveela has been
lost through time and the site of it is no longer known. The name also appears in this
context in the case of Moville Co. Donegal and Movilla, Co. Down. The Brownes Estate
at Moyveela during the 17th-19th centuries is more often referenced as Moyvilly (NUIG,
online).
Ffrenches of Moyvilly
The Ffrench family were Anglo-Normans who accompanied Strongbow to Ireland in
1169 and thereafter two branches settled in Galway in 1425 (Spellissy 1999, 321). Walter
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Ffrench appears to have been the first Ffrench of Moyvilly during the early 17th century
and was both son and grandson of former Mayors of Galway (Robert Ffrench 1582–3 and
John Ffrench 1538–9) (Blake 1928). He studied Law at the Middle Temple in London
where he became a barrister. During his career, he became renowned in the acquisition of
the lands of dissolved Religious Houses in the early 17th century (ibid).
The lands at Moyvilly were granted to Walter Ffrench by a patent dated 27 Mar
1619 including the castle and three-quarters of land in Moyvilly and also half of Levally
in Dunkellin barony. Interestingly, he married Honora Browne of Barna, by whom he
had two sons which would indicate that the two families had intermarried before the
Brownes took over the estate in the 17th century. The Will of Walter Ffrench was proved
in the Prerogative Court in 1638 in which he left to his wife, ‘My principal stone houses
or castle which I built at Moyvilly in Athenry parish with 2 quarters of land adjoining
called Tullagh and Caherperil,’ (Blake 1928). Walter Ffrench was succeeded by his eldest
son, Henry, who was proprietor of Moyvilly in 1641. Henry married Catherine Darcy,
but died childless c. 1642. He was the last Ffrench of Moyvilly after which the townland
was granted by patent under the Acts of Settlement to the Browne family (ibid).
Brownes of Galway
It is possible to trace the ancestors of the Brownes of Galway back to at least the 12th
century when Walter de Browne came to the county (Spellissy 1999, 68). Walter was the
second son of Phillipus de Browne, an Anglo-Norman, and arrived in Ireland in 1170 and
was appointed Governor of Wexford in 1172 (ibid). They are likely to have derived their
name from the Anglo-Norman de Brun, meaning ‘the brown haired’ or ‘brown-skinned’
(ibid). The Browns of Brownstown appear to have settled near Loughrea in the late 13th/
early 14th century and are the direct ancestors of the branches of the family who later went
on to settle in nearby Athenry and Galway city itself.
It is likely that the Brownes of Moyvilly and Lynches of the adjacent estate of Lavally,
were linked. An armorial stone bearing the coat of arms of the Browne and Lynch fami-
lies and dated 1627, is located in the well known Browne Doorcase, which was originally
located in Lower Abbeygate Street, in Galway city.
Brownes of Moyveela
The Moyvilly estate was granted to the Brownes under the Act of Settlement 1652 and
was formerly an estate belonging to the Ffrench family. The Act of Settlement stated that
anyone who had held arms against the Parliament would forfeit their lands and that even
those who had not would lose three quarters of their lands – being compensated with
some other lands in Connacht. In practice, those Protestants who had fought for the Roy-
alists avoided confiscation by paying fines to the Commonwealth regime, but the Irish
Catholic land-owning class was significantly challenged at this time.
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Vandeleurs of Moyveela
In 1855, Thomas Vandeleur is recorded as owning extensive property in the parish of
Athenry. This was a branch of the Vandeleur family of Kilrush, county Clare and Killu-
can, county Westmeath. At this time he was leasing a house at Moyveela to James Kineen
along with 400 acres of land.
Interestingly, Andrew Browne’s address during the 1870s is given as Moyveela and
Mount Hazel. The Griffith Valuation records indicate that both Andrew Browne and
Thomas Vandeleur owned lands in Moyveela confirming that the Brownes had held onto
some of their property at Moyvilly. The Vandeleur estate in Galway totaled over 1500
acres by the 1870s.
Griffith Valuation of Tenements
The townland of Moyveela is covered by two parishes, namely Athenry and Stradbally.
Thomas Vandeleur is recorded as owning land in both parish areas of the townland. The
main house and almost two-thirds of the land of the estate appears to have been located
in the parish of Athenry. Some of this land was still owned by Andrew Browne and some
by Thomas Vandeleur, who purchased the land from the Brownes.
Although Thomas Vandeleur owned Moyveela House, the immediate demesne land
and other land in Moyveela, he leased the house and most of the land to James Kinneen.
The records show that Thos. C. Vandeleur leased a house, offices and land covering 409
acres to James Kinneen (Griffith 1857, 166). The land was valued at £204 and buildings at
£8 giving him a total rateable valuation of £212 per annum (ibid). Vandeleur also leased a
small dwelling to James Keaveney valuing a total rent of £1 per annum (ibid). Vandeleur
also leased land to the Mid-Great Western Railway Company in the form of 148 linear
perches totalling over 5 acres at an annual rateable valuation of £3 (ibid).
The only land in Moyveela (Athenry) that Thomas Vandeleur appears to have occu-
pied himself, was 142 acres of plantation which contained a caretakers house and offices
(Griffith 1857, 166). This would indicate that even then, he paid someone else to live on
the plantation and manage it. This land and the buildings were valued at £43. In total,
Vandeluer owned over 550 acres in Moyveela (Athenry) and both land and buildings
came to an annual valuation rate of £259 (ibid). This property covers plots 1A-1C, 3 and
4 on the Griffith Valuation maps. Thomas Vandeleur also owned and leased out most of
the land in Moyveela (Stradbally), which amounted to an additional 500 acres and build-
ings, valued at £122 by Griffith (1857, 198). This property covers plots 1–3 on the Griffith
Valuation maps.
Andrew Browne appears to have retained 332 acres of land at Moyveela (Athenry). He
leased 40 acres of land and a house and offices to Thomas Fahy with a rateable valuation
of £22. He also leased a building to the constabulary force which served as a police bar-
racks and this was valued at £5, but was exempt from rates under the Griffith Valuation
(1857, 166). He also owned a further 292 acres divided into two plots which were both
managed by caretakers.
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Moveela 6 Moveela 3
Castle
Figure 4: Griffith's Valuation map which is an annotated version of the Ordnance Survey first edition
map�
At the time of the Griffith Valuation, Thomas Vandeleur did not actually reside in the
townland and neither, technically, did Andrew Browne, although both had kept their
addresses there. Both Browne and Vandeleur were absent landlords, who lived elsewhere
in the county. The Brownes went to live in the estate of Mounthazel, a better quality and
more salubrious estate. Vandeleur also had no desire to reside in Moyveela and instead
rented the house and a large proportion of the land to James Kinneen. By todays stand-
ards, the property of Moyveela owned by Browne and Vandeleur would be considered
sizeable out-farms.
There is no specific mention of the cabins or buildings of the clachan settlement in the
Griffith Valuation and it is clear that it had long since gone out of use and was partly cov-
ered by woodland on the first edition Ordnance Survey map. Therefore, the subsequent
census returns are likely to convey little additional information regarding the clachan
settlement at Moyveela.
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6 Cartographic Analysis
Taylor and Skinner’s Road Maps of Ireland
Taylor and Skinner’s map (1783, 89) (Fig 5) names ‘Moyvilly Cas.’ but does not depict it.
Below this script, the house is depicted and adjacent is written, ‘Vandeleur Esq.’ It is pos-
sible that the ‘castle’ refers to the house, which may have been incorporated into an earlier
structure. Nevertheless, this confirms the information in the archival records which state
that Vandeluer had acquired Moyveela House and some of the estate during the later 18th
century. The estate house/castle is depicted to south-west of Athenry. Two other castles
are named and depicted as being in ruins by this time: one to north-west and a second to
north of Moyvilly Castle.
First edition Ordnance Survey six-inch map
The first edition Ordnance Survey map (Fig 3) does not depict the clachan. The area of
the former clachan is located between two areas depicted as woodland. It is possible that
the unexcavated areas of the clachan discovered during the initial archaeological survey,
was still preserved within this wooded area.
Griffith Valuation map
The Griffith Valuation map (Fig 4) is essentially an annotated version of the ordnance
survey first edition map, however the accompanying valuation records indicate the land-
lord, occupier, description of tenement, area of land leased and rateable valuation of land
and buildings. It shows that the area of the clachan is part of a larger land holding (no.
6). According to Griffith (1857, 166), this was owned and occupied by Andrew Browne
and appears to have been an out-farm. It comprised of 53 acres of land and a caretaker’s
house and offices with a total rateable value of £25. There is no mention of a clachan type
settlement surviving here in 1857, either annotated onto the map or in the accompanying
records.
25-inch Ordnance Survey map
The second edition Ordnance Survey map (Fig 6) does not depict the clachan. The area
of the former clachan is still flanked by two areas of woodland to east and west. It is pos-
sible that the unexcavated areas of the clachan discovered during the initial archaeological
survey, is still preserved within this wooded area.
Second edition six-inch Ordnance Survey
The third edition Ordnance Survey map (Fig 7) does not depict the clachan. The area of
the former clachan is located adjoining the western side of a woodland area as per earlier
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Ordnance Survey map editions. The land here is depicted as being scrub with rock out-
crop. This concurs with the bedrock that was found by excavation to be incorporated into
some of the buildings at Moyveela.
Summary
Taylor and Skinner’s Road Maps of Ireland 1783 depicts and names ‘Moyvilly’ estate
house indicating that ‘Vandeleur Esq.’ was in ownership of the house and at least some
of the estate at that time. Unfortunately, no detail of tenant land holdings are afforded
on this map. There is no depiction of the clachan at Moyveela on any of the subsequent
Ordnance Survey map editions. The adjacent castle is shown in ruin on the later maps.
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Plate 1: General view of the excavation site looking south through the trees�
7 Site description
The excavated site was located in Moyveela townland close to the south-eastern boundary
with the townland of Coldwood/Foorkill (NGR 145363/223709). The previously unre-
corded building group – evidently a clachan – was located approximately 300 m south of
the N6 Galway to Dublin road in a deciduous wooded area. The excavation area was situ-
ated on rough ground with frequent boulders among the woodland undergrowth (Plates
1 and 2). There was also some outcropping bedrock.
8 Methodology - excavation
The building group was identified during a walkover survey conducted as part of the
Phase 1 archaeological investigations in advance of the proposed N18Oranmore to Gort
national road scheme. In February 2008 a topographic survey was carried out, during
which the visual remains of the upstanding buildings were plotted (Fig 2) using a high-
precision GPS system. In total 16 buildings were identified with the possibility of more
being obscured by trees and heavy vegetation. This survey identified three buildings with-
in the lands acquired for the new road. The three building were located on the northern
and western periphery of the clachan. Subsequent test excavations confirmed the presence
of the identified buildings.
Two areas surrounding the identified buildings, measuring roughly 350 m sq and 650
m sq, were cleared of trees and scrub. The site was then subjected to an intensive hand-
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Plate 2: Looking south-east across the larger of the two excavation areas�
clean and two more buildings and a range of associated features were identified. The five
buildings and the associated features were fully excavated by hand and recorded using the
single-context recording system with plans and sections being produced at a scale of 1:20
or 1:10 as appropriate. A complete photographic record was maintained throughout the
excavation.
9 Excavation results
The excavations revealed the presence of five buildings within the lands acquired for the
new road along with other related features including a bank, a trackway, a pavement and
platforms (Fig 8). The five buildings and associated features excavated represent part of a
larger pre-famine clachan settlement.
The surface layer (C.1) across the site was an organic mid to dark brown humic soil
which was highly organic due to the tree cover. Excavation of this deposit revealed nu-
merous finds including: iron fragments, glass, slate, post-medieval pottery, a 1750–1826
Irish penny, clay pipe stems and a chert flake (E3907:1:11–29). Slag residues and animal
bone fragments were also recovered. A similar layer of brown organic rich humic soil
(C.48) was noted just below the layers of collapsed stone across the excavation area and
represented material which built up once the structures had been abandoned but before
they collapsed. These upper layers were underlain by bedrock and grey gravels with some
patches of sandy, orange, brown, clay (C.2). The underlying bedrock is close to the surface
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Plate 3: Looking south-west across building 1�
and the builders of the structures used the protruding bedrock as a foundation for many
of the buildings in the group.
9.1 Building 1
Building 1 measured 8.6 m north-east/south-west and 6.2 m north-west/south-east over-
all, enclosing 23.6 sq m of internal floor space (Fig 9 and Plates 3 and 4). The walls (C.25)
of building 1 were unmortared and were on average 1.1 m wide. They were constructed
with limestone field stones varying in size. Larger stones were placed on their internal
and external faces with smaller core stones in between. The walls were roughly built and
incorporated natural rock outcrops. An 0.8 m wide entrance was located in the southern
wall. Larger stones flanked the sides of this entrance. There was no evidence for a foun-
dation cut as the walls were shown to have been built directly on the underlying natural
subsoil (C.2).
An internal stone bench (C.26) which was built against the north western wall of
building 1 was 1.1 m wide and ran the entire length of the building. It was constructed
with an internal face of large stones with an inner core of smaller stones. It survived to a
maximum of two stones in height but in most places it was only one stone high. A cut and
dressed sandstone formed part of the inner facing and may have derived from the nearby
tower house (RMP No. GA095:089).
An irregular pit (C.46), which measured 3.1 m east/west and 2.14 m north/south and
was 0.36 m in depth, was located to the east of the doorway, mid-way between the north
and south walls of building 1. The northern side of the pit coincided with the edge of the
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Plate 4: Looking east across building 1�
internal wall (C.26). The pit was filled with very soft, mid brown sandy silt. About 50% of
the fill consisted of small sub-rounded stones and fine, medium and coarse sub-rounded
pebbles (C.47). The large, irregular cut has been interpreted as a possible pig-nest. The fill
contained a clay pipe stem (E3970:47:1) and may represent a later reuse of the structure.
An external wall (C.43) abutted the eastern gable of building 1, about 1 m from the
south eastern corner of the building. The wall was constructed without mortar in similar
fashion to the other walls making up the building. The wall formed the north western
boundary wall for the clachan.
A mid-yellowish, brown, sandy, silt with frequent pebble inclusions (C.23) was located
in the angle created by the eastern gable wall and the boundary wall (C.43) extending
from it. The deposit contained a clay pipe fragment, pottery sherds (E3970:23:1–2) and
some animal bone. The deposit was located below the rubble building collapse (C.11)
which spread across the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-
angular and rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The rubble collapse
measured up to 0.6 m in depth and contained a glass fragment and a bone handled knife
(E3970:11:1–2). The deposit overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was over-
lain by similar humic rich topsoil (C.1). The stone deposit resulted from the collapse of
the building after it was abandoned. This was attested to by the underlying humic deposit
which could only have built up over the site after the building was no longer in use. The
artefacts therefore date the smaller scale use of the site following the abandonment of the
clachan.
The comparatively small size of the building when compared to building 2 and 4 and
its lack of an internal division suggest that it was used for animals or other related agri-
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Plate 5: Looking north-west across building 2�
cultural activities. An internal shallow pit (C.46) appears to be a pig-nest, indicating this
may have been used as a piggery.
9.2 Building 2
Building 2 measured 11.5 m north-east/south-west by 6.3 m north-west/south-east and
enclosed an internal floor space of 55.65 sq m (Fig 10 and Plates 5 and 6). Within this
building there was evidence for a possible internal divide, indicated by a slight linear rise
in the natural subsoil and occasional stones situated along the rise. The internal divide
would have divided the internal space by a ratio of 2:1. The walls (C.13) have been crudely
built and in places incorporated natural rock outcrops.
A 1 m wide gap (C.15) in the line of the north-west wall was lined with flat paving
stones. An opposing gap in the south-east wall (C.35) varied in width between 1.2 m and
1.3 m. The gap was also lined with flat paving stones. One of the paving stones appeared
to have been deliberately broken into four. The paving stones at the centre of both gaps
were worn to a flat and polished surface.
A deposit (C.20) of light, pinkish-yellow, sandy clay was identified against the exter-
nal face of the north east gable of building 2. The deposit was 2 m long, 0.45 m wide and
0.20 m deep. It may have been deliberately introduced to either level that area prior to
constructing the north-east gable wall or is the remains of a deposit used to support the
base of the wall.
An area of variably sized sub-angular and rounded stones (C.16) overlying and com-
pressed into the natural subsoil was recorded between the north-east wall of building 2
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Plate 6: Looking east across building 2�
and the south-west facing slope of an enclosing bank (C.14). These stones covered an area
measuring 5.5 m north/south and 2.3 m east/west and were a deliberate deposit set into
the underlying natural subsoil in order to flatten and level an area between building 2 and
the surrounding bankto form a path or a work surface.
Enclosing bank
A low rounded 3 m wide bank interrupted by protruding bedrock and later tree growth
surrounded building 2. The bank was semi-circular in shape and ran beyond the limit
of excavation and outside the limit of the lands acquired for the new road. There were
two approximately 2 m wide breaks in the bank to the north-east and south-east, which
were possibly original. The gaps were aligned with the corners of the eastern gable wall of
building 2.
The bank was constructed primarily of small to medium sub-angular stones in a ma-
trix of soft, dark-brown, silt (C.14), reaching a maximum depth of 0.35 m. A diagnostic
Early bronze Age retouched, chert, slug-knife (E3970:14:1) was found in this layer along
with modern ceramic pottery sherds, glass fragments and two iron nails (E3970:14:2–5).
Some slag and oyster shell were also recovered.
Below this was a layer of medium sized sub-rounded and rounded stones in a matrix
of mid-brown, clay silt (C.44), measuring 1.4 m in width. This stone layer contained a
post medieval pottery sherd (E3970:44:1) and animal bone. Some human bone was also
recovered and represented the skeletal remains of a late, middle-adult, male. A layer of
firm, light-yellowish, brown, sandy, silt (C.42) underlay these stones and was up to 0.25
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m in depth. A small flint flake (E3970:42:1) was found in this layer along with a clay pipe
stem (E3970:42:2) and some animal bone. Below this sandy silt were small to medium
sub-rounded and rounded stones (C.49) set in an irregular line. The secondary stone layer,
the underlying sandy silt and the irregular line of stones were not evident in all excavated
sections of the bank. The bank was heavily disturbed by tree stumps and roots which
meant only a small percentage (c. 20%) was excavated. These layers of earth and stone
encompassing the bank lay directly on the subsoil (C.2).
Upper deposits
A rubble stone (C.5) deposit overlay the remains of building 2. The deposit spread across
the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular and rounded
limestone rubble in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The deposit measured up to 0.25
m in depth and contained a fragment of a possible hone stone (E3970:5:1) and two iron
nails (E3970:5:2). The deposit overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was
overlain by similar humic rich topsoil (C.1). This stone deposit resulted from the collapse
of the building after it was abandoned. Again, as in building 1, this was attested by the
underlying humic deposit which could only have built up over the site after the building
was no longer in use.
Building 2 Summary
Building 2 by virtue of its size, opposing entrances and internal division would have
been appropriate for habitation. There is however no evidence for a hearth. The enclosing
bank and area of paving may have defined the limit of the property within a communal
space but may also have delimited a work space surrounding the house. The presence of
a Bronze Age artefact in the enclosing bank raises the possibility that an earlier enclosure
is represented.
9.3 Building 3
Building 3 measured 9.6 m north-east/south-west and 3.7 m north-west/south-east and
enclosed an area of 23 sq m (Fig 11 and Pates 7 and 8). The walls (C.27) were constructed
with unmortared limestone. A rotary quernstone fragment (E3970:27:1) was recovered
from the wall. They were on average 1 m wide and survived in places to 0.6 m in height.
The construction of the walls was the same as in buildings 1 and 2, with the excep-
tion of the western gable where a line of larger stones with smaller stones inside abutted
the external face of the gable wall. Two opposing entrances were evident in the south-east
and north-west walls. There was no evidence of paving or threshold stones in these en-
trances. An internal dividing wall of similar width and construction to the external walls
extended from the northern wall towards the southern wall dividing the internal space
at a ratio of 2:1. A 0.7 m gap between the end of the internal wall and the southern wall
formed the access between the two parts.
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Plate 7: Looking west across building 3�
Two layers survived above the subsoil (C.2) on the interior of building 3. A layer (C.52)
of charcoal-flecked, light-brown, orange, silty, clay covered the entire area on the interior
to a depth of 0.07 m. An upper layer (C.45), consisting of compact charcoal flecked mid-
bluish, grey, sand and pebbles was 0.03 to 0.04 m in depth at the centre of the building
and reached a maximum depth of 0.15 m in the corners and along the walls of the build-
ings interior. A glass bottle neck (E3970:45:1) shell and animal bone were recovered from
this layer during the excavation. The lower layer was evidently introduced to level the
irregular natural subsoil surface of the interior and the upper layer formed a floor surface
which gradually eroded towards the centre of the building.
A stone setting defined a small and simple internal hearth which was built directly on
the natural subsoil (C.2). There was no indication of a chimney and it is likely that the
smoke from the hearth dispersed through the opposing entrances or through a hole in the
roof. A sporadic line of small to medium sized sub-angular stones (C.8) enclosed a semi
circular area of 0.75 sq m which was located against the eastern face of the internal divid-
ing wall of building 3. Two deposits were contained within the stone setting. The lower
deposit was an intensely oxidised orange red clay (C.12) with a depth of 0.13 m and the
upper deposit was a soft dark brown sandy silt (C.7) which was 0.1 m deep and contained
shell fragments and animal bone. The stones of the internal dividing wall between the
semi circular stone setting were blackened.
Along the western end of the external face of the northern wall of building 3 a shallow
deposit of dark grey/black material (C.19) was identified which may represent a dump of
waste material from the internal hearth. This deposit was irregular in plan and measured
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Plate 8: Looking east across building 3
1.6 m east/west and 1.1 m north/south. A small fragment of yellow brick was retrieved
from this deposit.
A rubble stone (C.6) deposit overlay the remains of building 2. The deposit spread
across the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular and
rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The deposit was up to 0.7 m in
depth. The deposit overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain by
similar humic rich topsoil (C.1). The stone deposit resulted from the collapse of the build-
ing after it was abandoned. Again, this was attested to by the underlying humic deposit
which could only have built up over the site after the building was no longer in use.
9.4 Building 4
Building 4 was an unmortared structure of roughly coursed field stones which measured
2.4 m by 3.8 m overall and enclosed a space of approximately 6.8 sq m (Fig 11 and Plate
9). A narrow break in the wall was evident in the north-eastern corner, however this area
was heavily disturbed by a tree which made it difficult to determine if this break was an
original entrance. The walls differed from the other excavated buildings in that there was
a very limited rubble core between the two lines of inner and outer facing stones and the
width of the walls varied between 0.6 m and 0.8 m as opposed to 1 m for the other build-
ings. The structure was situated in the south-east corner of the excavated area and modern
field boundaries (C.39) were built on top of the west and south walls. A stone (C.6) de-
posit overlay the remains of building 4. The deposit spread across the interior and exterior
of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular and rounded limestone in a matrix of
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Plate 9: Looking east across building 4�
dark brown silty clay. The deposit was up to 0.55 m in depth. The deposit overlay a buried
humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain by similar humic rich topsoil (C.1). This
was the smallest building excavated within the clachan and was possibly used for storage
and or keeping animals. It may be related to the more substantial remains of building 3;
which is located 2 m to the north.
9.5 Building 5
Building 5 was internally divided and roughly constructed. It was situated outside the
bank surrounding building 2. It was constructed with unmortared limestone walls
(C.17). It measured 7.8 m north-east/south-west by 5 m north-west/south-east overall,
and enclosed an area of 28 sq m (Fig 10 and Plates 10 and 11). The western gable wall was
defined by a number of large rock outcrops which formed part of the bank surrounding
building 2. The construction of building 5 was not as regular as the other buildings in the
clachan. The walls were not as defined by outer and inner faces of larger stones and more
use was made of naturally occurring outcropping bedrock. The thickness of the upstand-
ing walls was varied. The wall could not be traced effectively along the south western
portion of the building and there was no definite entrance identified. There were some
indications that a line of small to medium-sized stones may have been used to define an
entrance passage close to the south western corner of the building. The building did have
an internal dividing wall (C.18) which ran for 1.3 m from the northern wall towards the
southern wall. The ground fell away to the south of the building and this may account
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for the less well defined nature of the building on this side with the slope resulting in a
greater degree of wall collapse.
The interior of building 5 contained a floor surface upon which a number of deposits
possibly related to burning activities were recorded. A layer (C.22) of light-pinkish, yel-
low, sandy, clay covered the base of the building. This deposit reached a maximum depth
of 0.1 m. Three deposits (C.31, C.41 and C.40) overlay this layer and one small pit (C.37)
cut it. Two of these deposits (C.31 and C.41) were of similar size; with an average diam-
eter of 0.28 m and each had a maximum depth of 0.05 m. The third deposit (C.40) was
larger measuring 1.7 m north/south and 0.7 m east/west. This was also shallow, approxi-
mately 0.05 m in depth. All three deposits were composed of similar material: pinkish/
brown, red, clay. One of the deposits (C.31) contained pieces of slag. The small pit (C.37)
measured 0.5 m east/west, 0.45 m north/south and was 0.22 m in depth. It was filled with
firm brown grey sandy silt (C.36) with occasional small to medium charcoal pieces and
flecks. This pit contained an iron nail (E3970:36:2) and a bone knife handle (E3970:36:1).
A later deposit of firm mid-greyish, brown, silty, clay (C.32) with occasional angular peb-
bles and small stones covered the pit and the three other internal deposits. It contained an
iron nail (E3970:32:1), brick fragments, slag and animal bone. The upper deposit appears
to be a later floor surface. Slag was recovered from all the deposits within the building
and this along with the burning activity suggests that the building was used as a forge or
workshop.
A small bank of small to medium sized stones in a matrix of firm, dark grey-brown,
sandy, silt (C.34) was identified projecting eastward to the limit of excavation from the
external eastern corner of building 5. This bank measured 5.2 m east/west, 2.8 m north/
south and 0.65 m in height. The bank is similar to that surrounding building 2, however,
its function remains unclear. A layer of mid-yellowish, brown, silty-clay (C.21) with oc-
casional pebbles, and occasional small and medium sub-angular and sub-rounded stones
was identified abutting the exterior face of the northern wall of building 5. This layer
covered an area of approximately 40 sq m, and reached a maximum depth of 0.23 m. The
deposit contained an iron chisel (E3970:21:1) and pottery sherds (E3970:21:2). It also con-
tained brick, slag, shell and animal bone fragments. Covered by this deposit and located
between 4 – 6 m north of the north wall of building 5 were two, single coursed stone
platforms (C.24 and C.38). Both platforms were similar in size measuring approximately
2.6 m north-west/south-east, 1.2 m in width and 0.2 m in depth and were composed of
small and medium sub-angular and sub-rounded stones. Both platforms were set into the
subsoil (C.2) and may have been used as drying stands for potatoes or hay.
A stone (C.4) deposit overlay the remains of building 5. The deposit spread across
the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular and rounded
limestone in a matrix of dark-brown, silty-clay. The deposit was up to 0.35 m in depth
and contained pottery sherds (blackware and stoneware) (E3970:4:1) and slag residues.
The deposit overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain by similar
humic rich topsoil (C.1). This stone deposit resulted from the collapse of the building
after it was abandoned. This was attested to by the underlying humic deposit which could
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only have built up over the site after the building was no longer in use. The presence of
pottery in the abandonment layers could represent the dispersal of previously deposited
pots or, alternatively, they could represent the post-abandonment disposal of waste from
the adjacent clachan in Coldwood.
9.6 Entrance avenue
A cobbled surface (C.50) formed an entrance avenue which ran into the settlement from
the north-east corner of the excavation area. The surface ran along the field boundary
which marked the south eastern limit of the excavation and was between 1.6 and 2.8 m
wide. It followed a line to the east of building 3 and to the west of building 4 before run-
ning under the southern field boundary which also marked the limit of excavation. This
surface showed evidence for either two construction phases or else possible repair work.
The stones were smaller, more rounded and compressed along its eastern fringes, and
larger and more angular on its western limits. A wall (C.51), built up from a hollow, was
recorded on the western edge of the cobbled surface (c.1 m north-east of building 3). It
was approximately 0.9 m high and 8 m in length and was likely to have been a revetment
wall used to allow the construction of a relatively flat entrance avenue across an area of
rough ground with extensive rock outcropping
9.7 Wall fragment
In the southern corner of the site below some collapsed rubble (C.33), a single wall (C.30)
orientated east/west was recorded. This measured 1.8 m in length and 0.55 m in width.
It was built of unmortared limestone with a single surviving course of a two stone wide
wall. The wall ran up to, and under, a field boundary wall (C.39) which also marked the
boundary of the excavation area. The boundary wall kinked at this point and a short
length of the wall may have been incorporated into the gable wall of a building which lies
outside the limit of excavation.
9.8 Field boundary
A modern field boundary (C.39) forms the limit of excavation to the south-west, south
and south-east. The wall was loose rubble construction and had a maximum height of 1.5
m and the constituent stones were not coursed or finished and ranged in size.
10 Charred plant remains
The sieved flots from four of the Moyveela 3 samples were examined by Penny Johnston
(Appendix 4). Three contained plant remains. Charred seeds, barley and oat grains, were
found in small amounts in the sample from the bank surrounding building 2 (C.14, S.20)
and from burnt clay (C.12, S.21) from the hearth in building 3. The richest sample, (C.36,
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S.17), was taken from a pit/post-hole located at the centre of building 5. The cereal assem-
blage from this site included wheat (72%), oat (3%) and indeterminate cereal grains (25%).
11 Animal bone
The animal bones were examined by Margaret McCarthy (Appendix 5).The animal bones
from Moyveela 3 were mostly recovered from the topsoil and the samples from earlier
features were too small to reconstruct the local animal husbandry at the time the clachan
was occupied. There is no evidence, however ,that the faunal material accumulated by
means other than the disposal of domestic refuse and this is borne out by the domi-
nance of livestock remains. Many of the bones came from outside the walls of the vari-
ous exposed buildings where they were apparently dumped. These bones were extremely
fragmented due to trampling in what was probably a high traffic area. Cattle and sheep
were the two most abundant species and clearly the most important economically. The
relatively low proportion of pig bones compared to remains of ruminant species is of note
and may relate to the pig often being kept as part of the subsistence strategy of a small
farming family while cattle and sheep were kept as part of the cash-based wider economy
so important for tax and rent payments.
12 Human bone
The human bones were examined by Jonny Geber (Appendix 6). The human bones found
at Moyveela 3 within the enclosing bank which surrounded building 2 represent the skel-
etal remains of a late, middle-adult, male. This individual has potentially suffered from
antemortem cranial trauma, indicated by a possible healed cranial lesion.
13 Finds
Stone artefacts
The lithic assemblage was examined by Dr Farina Sternke (Appendix 7).The nine lithic
finds from the excavation are a bipolar flint flake, a piece of chert debitage, a chert slug
knife, a rotary hone stone, a rubbing stone, a possible mould/hone stone and three roof
slate fragments. The assemblage is technologically and typologically diagnostic. The rota-
ry hone stone and the roof slate fragments are associated with the post-medieval clachan,
while the remainder of the assemblage represent a residual early Bronze Age component
at this site.
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Quernstone
A rotary quern fragment was examined by Anne Carey (Appendix 8).The quern had sus-
tained a lot of damage, to the extent that the diameter of the grinding stone could not be
estimated. The dressing of the stone is uniformly simple, random, pock-marking. There
was no evidence of decoration and it did not possess any diagnostic features.
Metal finds
The metal finds were examined by Sara Camplese (Appendix 9). The metal finds from the
site included eight nails, two u-shaped staples, an iron bar, a chisel, a buckle, two horse
shoe fragments, a knife and a bronze Irish penny dating to between 1805 and 1806.
Clay pipe stems
The clay pipes were examined by Sara Camplese (Appendix 10). Eight clay pipe stems
were recovered from site. Given the small size of the fragments it has not been possible to
determine an exact date; however, they most likely can all be considered modern (from
the late 19th century onwards). Five of the stems are topsoil finds. Out of the remain-
ing three stems, two are associated with the activity around building 1 (E3907:23:1) and
building 2 (E3907:42:2) respectively. The last one (E3907:47:1) comes from the fill of a
pit (C.46) in building 1.
Pottery
The pottery was examined by Sara Camplese (Appendix 11). A total of 67 sherds of pot-
tery were recovered on site. They came from five different contexts. The majority of them
(55 sherds) are topsoil finds, while the remaining ones are from features related to the use
and later collapse of building 1 (C.23), building 2 (C.14 and C.44) and building 5 (C.4
and C.21). The assemblage dated broadly to the late 19th/early 20th century. As the settle-
ment is abandoned and part obscured by vegetation in the first edition OS maps, which
date to the 1830s, we know that the site was abandoned in the early 1800s – hence the
later pottery finds probably relate to a later, smaller scale use of the site, possibly for inter-
mittent building use, or for refuse disposal. All the identified forms can all be identified
as tableware and were of daily and common use. They probably tell us something about
the daily life of the occupants of both Moyveela clachan and the adjacent and probable
successor at Coldwood.
Glass Finds
The glass finds were examined by Sara Camplese (Appendix 12). A total of 34 glass frag-
ments were recovered from the site. All but one of the fragments was dark- green, glass,
glazed on the exterior and sometimes on the interior too. The only clear glass (E3907:45:1)
is a bottle neck fragment with an everted rim. The bottle was probably used to store medi-
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cines or lotions rather than drinks. Given their machine-made bases, all the bottles can
be dated to the first half of the 20th century. These finds definitely relate to a later usage
of the site.
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14 Building analysis
Domestic dwellings and agricultural buildings form the most common elements of the
rural built environment. Traditionally, dwellings and agricultural buildings, when found
together within an enclosed space, formed a farmstead. These were the focus of human
activities in the rural landscape and show a connection between people and places and
serve as expressions of local and regional traditions (Aalen et al 2000, 145). The plan form,
style, methods of construction, materials and techniques of buildings in the countryside
can convey information about the economic and social structures within a particular
area during a certain era. The construction materials can also show what materials were
close to hand in the region and the absence of other materials, such as roofing may be
suggestive of perishable materials which no longer survive. Most rural dwellers lived in
structures made entirely of perishable materials until around 1700 and thenceforth, stone
or mud single-storey houses predominated until the mid 19th century (ibid, 146).
Although there was a communal tradition of vernacular building in rural Ireland,
the buildings were regionally varied and could often be quite distinct depending on the
part of the countryside. The vernacular was distinct from the formal in that it was built
by local people, using local materials, techniques and style, as a result of a long-standing
tradition as opposed to the architect’s drawing board (O’Reilly 2004, 9; McAfee 2004,
34). Howard (2000, 6) states that the activities of the house were centered around the
hearth, where cooking took place, water was heated for baths and laundry, and the family
huddled for warmth on cold winter nights’.
It is likely that the pre-1700s cabins of mud and stone had perishable roofs such as
thatch. The hearth within would have been in the centre of a single-roomed dwelling or
the larger room if there was a division making two rooms. A hole in the thatched roof
was the only direct outlet for the smoke to escape. In some of the earlier byre dwellings,
both humans and animals would live under one roof. We have no evidence for such byre
dwellings in Moyveela 3.
14.1 The Clachan at Moyveela
The settlement at Moyveela consisted of 18 buildings with a possibility of further struc-
tures present in the area but currently obscured by dense vegetation. Within the lands
acquired for the new road, five stone buildings were recorded in detail along with ad-
ditional features associated with the complex. The arrangement of buildings is typical of
the random, clustered layout of a clachan. There is very little change evident in the field
arrangements on the first and second edition Ordnance Survey maps. As seen from the
maps this clachan appears to be on the fringes of two distinct field system types. There
are estate lands to west and north defined by large, regular fields indicative of farms in-
volved in beef enterprise (O’Sullivan & Downey 2008d, 36). To the east and south there
are small and medium sized rectangular fields most likely involved in mixed farming and
possibly limited to subsistence requirements and cash for rent and tithe payments.
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The group of buildings excavated at Moyveela consists of five primary structures: a
storage structure or piggery (building 1), a dwelling (building 2), another dwelling (build-
ing 3), a small storage structure (building 4), and a workshop or forge (building 5). The
survey of the clachan indicates that the five excavated buildings are on the eastern and
northern fringes of the settlement. Building 1 is c. 25 m to west of the other excavated
buildings and may form part of a different family or sub-unit within the clachan. Build-
ings 2–5 form a close knit cluster being on average 5 m apart and may have been occupied
by the same family unit, although building 2 is situated within a separate enclosing bank.
It is possible that a clachan of this size had several families each with their own trades,
thus enabling them to co-exist within their own community without the need to seek
services elsewhere.
Building 1
The main walls of the building are very roughly built of rubble and incorporate rock
outcrop in places at the base. The stone bench abutting the interior north western wall
may have supported tools or foodstuffs for animals kept within the structure. It has been
suggested that the reused cut and dressed sandstone in the additional wall was originally
from the nearby tower house (RMP GA095–089) which would suggest that renovation
work to this clachan building post-dates the abandonment of the castle. The pit (C. 46)
within building 1, may be the remains of a pignest, commonly formed by confined sows.
A short portion of boundary wall extends from the external face of the eastern wall of the
building.
Building 2
This was the largest building excavated within the clachan. The dwelling house (building
2) is south-east facing for maximum solar gain during daylight hours. This also faced the
gable of the house to the prevalent south-westerly wind, reducing the overall wind chill
factor during the day, but particularly after sunset. The dwelling is two-roomed in plan:
the larger room to the south-west and smaller room to the north-east at a ratio of 2:1.
This building has opposing entrances in the south-east and north-west walls which
were identified by the location of flat paving stones in the threshold area of both. This
paving was noted to have been very worn, indicating a long period of use. The entrance
led directly into the largest room which would have been the main living and working
area during the day.
Despite being the most substantial building excavated, building 2 had no foundation
trench and the drystone rising walls lay on natural subsoil. The walls were crudely built
with double facing and a core of spalls. Unlike building 1 the stones selected for build-
ing were generally smaller, however, the walls still incorporated natural rock outcrop in
places. It is possible that there would have been some form of mud bonding the stone
together, which been washed out over time.
A bank surrounded building 2 and a stone surface was located between the bank and
the dwelling. The bank may have been used to contain cattle during milking time as they
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were herded in and out of the building. Human remains were recovered from one of the
bank deposits along with a retouched chert slug knife (E3970:14:1) of Early Bronze Age
date, pottery sherds, glass fragments and two iron nails (E3970:14:2–5). Some slag, oyster
shell and animal bone were also recovered. This mix of artefacts could indicate the bank
is the remnants of a Bronze Age enclosure, most of which lies outside the lands acquired
for the road scheme.
Building 3
This is the second largest building excavated. The presence of a hearth and the general
finds, which tend towards the domestic, would suggest a domestic function for the build-
ing. Building 3 is very similar in plan, orientation and construction to building 2 and
also had opposing doorways. The structure was two-roomed in plan: the larger room to
south-west and the smaller room to the north-east with an area ratio of 2:1.
The hearth was located on the south-west face of the internal dividing wall. This was
located in the large room yet beside the entrance into the small room perhaps to spread
the heat throughout the house. The excavation did not reveal any structural remains of a
chimney which suggests that this building and those nearby were basic stone cabins with
perishable roofs. It is likely that a simple hole in the thatch allowed the smoke and fumes
from the fire to escape. The clay floor (C. 45) was worn in the main area of the house and
was preserved in the corners where it was less trodden. The shallow exterior deposit (C.
19) of dark organic material may represent the location of a turf stack or manure heap,
which may have been covered by a makeshift lean-to.
Building 4
This is the smallest building on the site and had narrow walls. This was likely to have
been a shed. The fact that a field boundary seems to have been constructed on top of this
structure would indicate that they post-date it.
Building 5
This building was constructed of unmortared limestone and had a possible windbreak
around the entrance in the southern corner. Such a feature is not present in any of the
other buildings. The possible wind break in conjunction with the small possible bowl
furnace and the increased presence of slag from deposits contained around and within the
building suggest that it may have been used as a forge.
The platforms (C.24 and C.38) identified to the north east of building 5 may be hold-
ing areas for a clamp of turf or potatoes or perhaps a hay or straw stack, however, The
clay deposit covering the stone may indicate that this was some form of platform for clay
or daub which would have been used to retouch the mortar or render on the buildings.
It may have been mixed with animal hair or similar. Evidence from extraction of clay for
18th-20th century brick-making would indicate that the clay was piled in large heaps for
rain and frost to weather it throughout the winter and in April it was turned over, tem-
pered with water and kneaded (ibid). It is quite possible that, given the deposit of clay on
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this stone platform, that it was used to store clay for weathering and subsequent kneading
(Hammond 2009, 5).
14.2Dating evidence
Cartographic evidence
Taylor and Skinner’s 1783 Road Maps of Ireland depict and name ‘Moyvilly’ estate house
and indicate that ‘Vandeleur Esq.’ was in ownership of the house and at least some of
the estate at that time (Figs 3–7). Unfortunately, no details of tenant land holdings are
afforded on this map. There is no depiction of the clachan at Moyveela on any of the
subsequent six-inch Ordnance Survey map editions.
It is clear that there has been some continuity of settlement in this part of the town-
land since at least the medieval period; a ringfort and earthwork are located just to the
west and south-west of the clachan and a later medieval tower house is located a little
further to the south-west. The ringfort, earthwork and castle are marked on all the Ord-
nance Survey map editions.
While the clachan of Moyveela is not depicted on the first edition Ordnance Sur-
vey map, one very large, adjacent clachan is marked on the map just to the east of the
Moyveela clachan in the townland of Coldwood/Foorkil. The clachan had an irregular
morphology with small holdings located on either side of small winding laneways. The
settlements appear to have diminished in size on the second edition Ordnance Survey
map and the third edition shows only a scatter of buildings which indicates a steady
population decline in this rural area during the later 19th and earlier 20th centuries.
The fact that Moyveela clachan is not depicted as even a cluster of roofless dwellings
on the first edition Ordnance Survey map and that part of the area is depicted as being
covered in dense, woodland, would indicate that it had been abandoned for some time.
Archival information
Walter Ffrench appears to have been the first Ffrench of Moyvilly when the castle and
three quarters of land at Moyvilly were granted by patent to him in 1619 (Blake 1928).
Walter Ffrench died in 1638 and left to his wife, ‘My principal stone houses or castle
which I built at Moyvilly in Athenry parish…’ (ibid). Walter Ffrench acquired the castle
in 1619, but in his will he claims to have built a castle at Moyveela, perhaps indicating
that he built a fortified house or similar. After his death, his eldest son, Henry, became
proprietor of Moyvilly. Although Henry married, he died childless c. 1642. He was the
last Ffrench of Moyvilly after which the townland was granted by patent under the Acts
of Settlement to the Browne family (ibid).
The Browne family resided at Moyvilly from the mid 17th century until the later 18th
century when they sold the house and a large proportion of the land and moved to the
more desirable estate of Mounthazel. The land at Moyvilly was purchased by the Vande-
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leur family of whom Thomas C. Vandeleur is registered as owner of the house and a large
proportion of the townland in 1857.
It is possible that the inhabitants of Moyveela clachan were tenants of the Browne
Estate, which was sold to Vandeleur in the later 18th century. The clachan could have been
abandoned when the estate changed hands and the inhabitants may have been evicted
and forced to move to the neighbouring townland of Coldwood/Foorkill. This townland
had a thriving clachan less than 500 m to south-east which was still occupied in the late
1800s by Kellys, Curleys, Burkes, common names of south Galway who perhaps were also
among the occupants of the clachan in Moyveela.
Style and construction
These were basic structures which were built with freely available raw materials. The ab-
sence of any roofing elements would suggest the use of perishable materials such as thatch.
As such the construction was connected with a system of cultivation which would have
intentionally produced thatching straw. The hearth (C. 8) and lack of a chimney structure
recorded in building 3 would indicate that a simple hole in the thatch would have allowed
the smoke to escape.
According to Aalen et al most rural dwellers lived in hocrude dwellings made entirely
of perishable materials until around 1700 and thenceforth, stone or mud single-storey
houses predominated until the mid-19th century (2000, 145–46).
Settlement appears to have continued in the townland of Moyveela during the later
medieval period where Holt (1908, 130–131) mentions that Moyveela Castle is one of six
such fortified dwellings in the parish of Athenry, part of a network of the elite members
of that society. It is likely, during medieval times, that the native, land-working settlement
of Moyveela would have been in close proximity to the castle. This may have continued
until the late 16th/early 17th centuries when the settlements were deserted after the Act
of Settlement of the mid-1600s or later when a change in landlord may have resulted in
the enforced removal of the Moyveela clachan occupants into the adjacent townland of
Coldwood.
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15 Conclusion
The clachan may well have been abandoned when the Moyveela estate changed hands
in the later 18th century. The estate was purchased by the Vandeleur family from the
Brownes. The inhabitants may have moved across the townland boundary to the two
clachan settlements in Coldwood Foorkill.
Buildings 2, 3 and 5 are similar in plan to the partly-divided longhouse which may
have been a form of byre dwelling, alternatively it may have been solely occupied by peo-
ple and animals wre kept in adjacent farm buildings – pens and sheds are visible in the ty-
pology of the remains of the clachan. Buildings 2 and 3 had a large room with a bedroom
at one end, divided by a wall. The large room was equally divided into two areas by an
imaginary line between the two opposing doors in the front and rear of the dwelling. The
kitchen area was located in the end nearest the bedroom and a fireplace toward the end of
the dividing wall. The byre may have been located at the far end of the large room on the
other side of the imaginary line between the opposing doors. A byre normally contained a
drain and was probably in fact ‘fenced-off’ from the kitchen area using a form of wooden
structure. No evidence of such a structure has survived in buildgins 2 and 3.
The flint and chert objects and the fragment of rotary quern stone are evidence for
residual prehistoric activity. The wide date range for the blackware and stoneware pottery
found on site has not helped in dating the occupation of the clachan. Much of the pottery
was found in later deposits, post-dating the abandonment of the settlement and repre-
senting the later, smaller scale use of the site, perhaps for occasional animal husbandry or
refuse disposal.
The recovery of human bone representing the remains of a late middle adult male
from one of the deposits forming the bank surrounding the main domestic structure
(building 2) is unusual and no instances of similar burials within a clachan settlement
could be found.
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Sleeman, M. 2004 Thatched Houses of County Cork. Cork County Council.
Spellissy, S. 1999 A History of Galway City & County. Celtic Bookshop, Limerick.
Whelan K. 2000. ‘The modern landscape: from plantation to present’ in Atlas of the
Irish rural landscape. Cork: Cork University Press.
Online Sources
www�antrimhistory�net accessed 09/07/09. This website details The Clachan Project which
the Glens of Antrim Historical Society ran as a field and desktop survey from
October 2004 to December 2007. They obtained information from the Griffith
Valuation and the Census returns of 1901.
www�buildingsofIreland�ie Database of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
(NIAH): Survey of Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes. Accessed
15/07/2009.
www�freepages�genealogy�rootsweb�ancestry�com Excerpts from the Irish Annals of the
Four Masters 800AD-1370AD. Accessed 16/07/2009.
www�landedestates�ieLandedEstates/jsp/estate-show�jsp?id=877 Landed Estate Database
founded and managed by the Moore Institute, National University of Ireland,
Galway. Researched for Vandeleur of Moyveela and Browne of Moyvilly. Accessed
15/07/2009.
Cartographic Sources
Dúchas – the Heritage Service. 1998 Record of Monuments and Places Map of County
Galway. Dublin.
Ordnance Survey. 1838 First edition six-inch map. Dublin.
Ordnance Survey. 1895 Twenty-five-inch map. Dublin.
Ordnance Survey. 1929 Second edition six-inch map. Dublin.
Ordnance Survey. 1998 Discovery Series first edition 1:50,000. Dublin.
Taylor, G., Skinner, A 1783 Road Maps of Ireland: Road from Dublin to Galway by
Banagher and to Birr by Frankford. Second edition.
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Appendix 3 Groups and subgroups
Natural Deposits – Group 1
Context Numbers – C.1, C.2 and C.48
Description
The surface layer (C.1) across the site was an organic mid to dark brown humic soil.
Excavation of this deposit revealed numerous finds including: slag residue, iron pieces,
glass, slate, post-medieval pottery (including fragments of an almost entire black ware
pot), a 1750–1826 Hibernian coin and animal bone. A similar layer of brown organic rich
humic soil (C.48) was noted just below the layers of collapsed stone across the excavation
area. These upper layers were underlain by bedrock and grey gravels with some patches or
sandy orange brown clay (C.2).
Interpretation
The topsoil in the area is highly organic due to the tree cover. The humic layer sealed by
the collapsed stone from the buildings built up once the structures had been abandoned.
The underlying bedrock is close to the surface and the builders of the structures utilised
the protruding natural bedrock as a basis or foundation for many of the buildings in the
group.
Building 1 – Group 2
Walls – Subgroup 2001
Context Number – C.25
Description
The walls (C.25) of building 1 were un-mortared and on average 1.1 m wide. They were
constructed with limestone field stones varying in size from 0.1 x 0.1 m to 1 x 1.2 m.
Larger stones were placed on their internal and external faces with smaller core stones in
between. The walls were roughly built and incorporated natural rock outcrops. An en-
trance measuring 0.8 m wide was located in the southern wall. Larger stones flanked the
sides of this entrance. There was no evidence for a foundation cut as the walls were shown
to have been built directly on the underlying natural subsoil (C.2). Building 1 measured
8.6 m north-east/south-west and 6.2 m north-west/south-east externally, enclosing 23.6
sq m of internal floor space.
Interpretation
Building 1 is located on the north western edge of a complex of buildings which probably
forms an eighteenth century clachan. The comparatively small size of the building when
compared to building 2 and 4 and its lack of an internal division suggest that it was used
for animals or other related agricultural activities
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Internal wall – Subgroup 2002
Context number – C.26
Description
This was an internal wall which was built against the north western wall of building 1. It
was 1.1 m wide and ran the entire length of the wall. It was constructed with an internal
face of large stones with an inner core of smaller stones. It survived to a maximum of two
stones in height but in most places it was only one stone high. A cut and dressed sand-
stone (Find no. 39) formed part of the inner facing.
Interpretation
The internal wall may have been used as the base for an animal feeding trough. It may
also have formed part of a work bench or storage area. The worked sandstone incorporated
into the wall facing may have derived from a nearby tower house (RMP no. GA095:089).
Internal pit – Subgroup 2003
Context Numbers – C.46 and C.47
Description
This pit (C.46) was irregular in plan and measured 3.1 m east to west and 2.14 m north
to south and was 0.36 m in depth. It was located to the east of the doorway mid-way be-
tween the north and south walls of building 1. The northern side of the pit coincided with
the edge of the internal wall (C.26). The pit was filled with very soft, mid brown sandy
silt. About 50% of the fill consisted of small sub-rounded stones and fine, medium and
coarse sub-rounded pebbles (C.47). The fill also contained a clay pipe stem.
Interpretation
The pit may have been used for storage or as a feeding trough. The pit may have been a
pignest and may indicate the building was used as a small scale piggery.
External wall – Subgroup 2004
Context Number – C.43
Description
The wall is built up against the eastern gable of building 1 about 1 m from the south
eastern corner of the building. The wall is constructed without mortar in similar fashion
to the other walls making up the building. It had an internal and external face with indi-
vidual stones ranging from 0.2 x 0.2 m to 0.4 x 0.3 x 0.6 m. The wall was 1 m wide and
extended eastward from the gable wall for 1.6 m. A 2 m wide gap was identified before
the wall continued eastward beyond the area of excavation.
Interpretation
The wall formed the north western boundary wall for the clachan. The door of building
1 opens to the south allowing the boundary wall to utilise the structure of building 1 as
part of the enclosing wall. It is unclear whether the 2 m wide gap was original or simply
resulted from collapse of the wall.
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External deposit – Subgroup 2005
Context Number – C.23
Description
This was a mid yellowish brown sandy silt with frequent pebble inclusions (C.23). It was
limited in extent measuring 3 m x 2.3 m and was only 0.18 m deep. It was located in the
angle created by the eastern gable wall and the boundary wall extending from it. The
deposit contained a clay pipe fragment, pottery sherds and animal bone.
Interpretation
The deposit was located below the stone layer (C.11) associated with the collapse of the
building 1.
Building collapse – Subgroup 2006
Context Number – C.11
Description
This was a stone (C.11) deposit which overlay the remains of building 1. The deposit
spread across the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular
and rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The deposit measured up
to 0.6 m in depth and contained glass fragments and a bone-handled knife. The deposit
overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain by similar humic rich
topsoil (C.1).
Interpretation
This stone deposit resulted from the collapse of the building after it was abandoned. This
was attested to by the underlying humic deposit which could only have built up over the
site after the building was no longer in use. The collapse may have resulted from the natu-
ral degradation of an abandoned building or was possibly augmented by the robbing of
the building stone. The amount of collapsed rubble excavated would not account for the
amount of stone needed to elevate the walls to any significant height and would suggest
that some stone was removed from the site.
Building 2 – Group 3
Walls – Subgroup 3001
Context Number – C.13
Description
The widths of the walls (C.13) varied between 0.9 m and 1.2 m. The walls were con-
structed of unmortared limestone. The outer and inner facing stones ranged in size from
0.2 m x 0.2 m x 0.1 m to 0.8 m x 0.7 m x 0.6 m. The internal rubble core consisted of
smaller sub-angular limestone with an average size of 0.1 m x 0.1 m x 0.4 m. There was
no evidence for a foundation cut as the walls were shown to have been built directly on
the underlying natural subsoil (C.2). These walls defined a building 11.5 m north-east to
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south-west by 6.3 m north-west to south-east and enclosed an internal floor space of 55.65
sq m. Within this building there was evidence for a possible internal divide, indicated by
a slight linear rise in the natural subsoil and occasional stones situated along the rise. The
internal divide would have divided the internal space by a ratio of 2:1.
Interpretation
The walls form a building located on the north eastern edge of a complex of buildings
which probably forms an eighteenth century clachan. The walls have been crudely built
and in places incorporated the natural rock outcrops. The ground plan of the building
has been badly disturbed by tree growth, natural collapse and possible deliberate removal
of building stone.
Opposing entrances – Subgroup 3002
Context Numbers – C.15 and C.35
Description
A 1 m wide gap (C.15) in the line of the north-west wall was lined with flat paving stones.
An opposing gap in the south-east wall (C.35) varied in width between 1.2 m and 1.3
m. The gap was also lined with flat paving stones. One of the paving stones appeared to
have been deliberately broken into four. The paving stones at the centre of both gaps were
eroded through wear to a flat and polished surface.
Interpretation
The gaps and associated paving stones appear to represent opposing entrances. The en-
trances were deliberately levelled and paved.
External deposit – Subgroup 3003
Context Number – C.20
Description
A deliberate deposit of light pinkish yellow sandy clay was identified against the external
face of the north east gable of Building 2. the deposit was 2 m long, 0.45 m wide and 0.20
m deep.
Interpretation
The deposit may have been deliberately introduced to either level that area prior to con-
structing the north east gable wall or is the remains of deposit used to support the base
of the wall.
Paving – Subgroup 3004
Context Number – C.16
Description
An area of variably sized sub-angular and rounded stones overlying and compressed into
the natural subsoil was evident between the north-east wall of Building 2 and the south-
west facing slope of an enclosing bank (C.14). These stones covered an area measuring 5.5
m north/south and 2.3 m east/west.
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Interpretation
This was a deliberate deposit of stone set into the underlying natural subsoil in order to
flatten and level an area between building 2 and the surrounding bank. It may have been
an access feature or a work surface.
Enclosing bank – Subgroup - 3005
Context Numbers – C.14, C.44, C.42 and C.49
Description
A low rounded 3 m wide bank disturbed by tree growth and protruding bedrock sur-
rounded building 2. The bank was semi – circular in shape and ran beyond the limit of
excavation and outside the limit of the lands acquired for the new road for the scheme.
There were two approximately 2 m wide breaks in the bank; to the north east and south
east, which were possibly original. The gaps were aligned with the corners of the eastern
gable wall of building 2.
The bank was constructed primarily of small to medium sub-angular stones in a matrix
of soft dark brown silt (C.14), reaching a maximum depth of 0.35 m. A small piece of
chert debitage was found in this layer long with pottery sherds, glass fragments, an iron
nail, slag, animal bone and oyster shell. Below this was a layer of frequent medium sized
sub-rounded and rounded stones in a matrix of mid brown clayey silt (C.44), measur-
ing 1.4 m in width. This stone layer contained post medieval pottery sherds and animal
bone. A layer of firm light yellowish brown sandy silt (C.42) underlay these stones and
was up to 0.25 m in depth. A small piece of flint debitage was found in this layer along
with a clay pipe stem and some animal bone. Below this sandy silt were small to medium
sub-rounded and rounded stones (C.49) set in an irregular line. The secondary stone layer
the underlying sandy silt and the irregular line of stones were not evident in all excavated
sections of the bank. The bank was heavily disturbed by tree stumps and roots which
meant only a small percentage (c. 20%) was excavated. These layers of earth and stone
encompassing the bank lay directly on the natural subsoil (C.2) and there was no evidence
of a foundation trench or cut.
Interpretation
The rough bank clearly surrounded building 2 and may have been used to define the
extent of the individual property within the overall clachan. The space between the bank
and house was partly covered in rough stone paving and may have formed a work or ac-
tivity surface which would then have been segregated from the surrounding communally
held territory by the bank.
Building collapse – Subgroup – 3006
Context Number – C.5
Description
This was a stone (C.5) deposit which overlay the remains of building 2. The deposit spread
across the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular and
rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The deposit measured up to 0.25
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m in depth and contained a fragment of a possible hone stone, pottery sherds and iron
fragments. The deposit overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain
by similar humic rich topsoil (C.1).
Interpretation
This stone deposit resulted from the collapse of the building after it was abandoned. This
was attested to by the underlying humic deposit which could only have built up over the
site after the building was no longer in use. The collapse may have resulted from the natu-
ral degradation of an abandoned building or was possibly augmented by the robbing of
the building stone. The amount of collapsed rubble excavated would not account for the
amount of stone needed to elevate the walls to any significant height and would suggest
that some stone was removed from the site.
Group Interpretation
Building 2 by virtue of its size, opposing entrances and internal division would have been
appropriate for habitation. There is no surviving evidence for a hearth. The enclosing
bank and area of paving may have defined the limit of the property within a communal
space but may also have delimited a work space surrounding the house.
Building 3 – Group 4
Walls – Subgroup - 4001
Context Number – C.27
Description
The walls were constructed with unmortared limestone. They were on average 1 m wide
and survived in places to 0.6 m in height. The construction of the walls was the same
as in Buildings 1 and 2, with the exception of the western gable where a line of larger
stones with smaller stones inside abutted the external face of the gable wall. Two opposing
entrances were evident in the south-east and north-west walls. There was no evidence of
paving or threshold stones in these entrances. The entrance in the southern wall measured
0.76 m in width; the opposing entrance in the northern wall measured 0.6 m. An internal
dividing wall of similar width and construction to the external walls extended from the
northern wall towards the southern wall dividing the internal space at a ratio of 2:1. A
0.7 m gap between the end of the internal wall and the southern wall formed the access
between the two parts. Building 3 measured 9.6 m north-east to south-west and 3.7 m
north-west to south-east and enclosed an area of 23 sq m.
Interpretation
The walls form a small internally divided house located on the on the north western edge
of a of a complex of buildings which probably forms an 18th/19th century clachan.
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Floor deposits – Subgroup 4002
Context Numbers – C.52 and C.45
Description
Two layers survived above the natural subsoil (C.2) on the interior of building 3. A layer
(C.52) of charcoal flecked light brown orange silty clay covered the entire area on the in-
terior to a depth of 0.07 m. On excavation two iron fragments were recovered. An upper
layer (C.45) consisting of compact charcoal flecked mid bluish grey sand and pebbles was
0.03 to 0.04 m in depth at the centre of the building and reached a maximum depth of
0.15 m in the corners and along the walls of the buildings interior. Slate, glass, iron frag-
ments shell and animal bone were recovered from this layer during the excavation.
Interpretation
The lower layer was introduced to level the irregular natural subsoil surface of the interior
and the upper layer formed a floor surface which gradually eroded towards the centre of
the building.
Hearth – Subgroup – 4003
Context Numbers – C.8, C.12 and C.7
Description
A sporadic single coursed line of small to medium sized sub-angular stones stone setting
which enclosed a semi circular area of 0.75 sq m was located against the eastern face of
the internal dividing wall of building 3. Two deposits were contained within the stone
setting. The lower deposit was an intensely oxidised orange red clay (C.12) with a depth
of 0.13 m and the upper deposit was a soft dark brown sandy silt (C.7) which was 0.1 m
deep and contained shell fragments and animal bone. The stones of the internal dividing
wall between the semi circular stone setting were blackened.
Interpretation
The stone setting defined a small and simple internal hearth which was built directly on
the natural subsoil (C.2). There was no indication of a chimney and it is likely that the
smoke from the hearth dispersed through the opposing entrances.
External deposit – Subgroup 4004
Context Number – C.19
Description
Along the western end of the external face of the northern wall of building 3 a shallow
deposit of dark grey/black organic material (C.19) was identified. This deposit was irregu-
lar in plan and measured 1.6 m east to west and 1.1 m north to south. A small fragment
of yellow brick was retrieved from this deposit.
Interpretation
It is possible that the deposit represents a dump of waste material form the internal hearth.
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Building collapse – Subgroup 4005
Context Number – C.6
Description
This was a stone (C.6) deposit which overlay the remains of building 2. The deposit spread
across the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular and
rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The deposit was up to 0.7 m in
depth and contained metal fragments and pieces of burnt bone. The deposit overlay a bur-
ied humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain by similar humic rich topsoil (C.1).
Interpretation
This stone deposit resulted from the collapse of the building after it was abandoned. This
was attested to by the underlying humic deposit which could only have built up over the
site after the building was no longer in use. The collapse may have resulted from the natu-
ral degradation of an abandoned building or was possibly augmented by the robbing of
the building stone. The amount of collapsed rubble excavated would not account for the
amount of stone needed to elevate the walls to any significant height and would suggest
that some stone was removed from the site.
Building 4 – Group 5
Context Numbers – C.29 and C.9
Description
Building 4 was an unmortared structure of roughly coursed field stones which measured
2.4 m by 3.8 m and enclosed a space of approximately 6.8 sq m. A narrow break in the
wall was evident in the north-eastern corner, however this area was heavily disturbed by a
tree which made it difficult to determine if this break was an original entrance. The walls
differed from the other excavated buildings in that there was a very limited rubble core
between the two lines of inner and outer facing stones and the width of the walls varied
between 0.6 m and 0.8 m as opposed to 1m for the other buildings. The structure was
situated in the south-east corner of the excavated area and modern field boundaries (C.39)
were built on top of the west and south walls. A stone (C.9) deposit overlay the remains
of building 4. The deposit spread across the interior and exterior of the building and con-
sisted of loose sub-angular and rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay.
The deposit was up to 0.55 m in depth. The deposit overlay a buried humic layer (C.48)
throughout and was overlain by similar humic rich topsoil (C.1).
Interpretation
This was the smallest building excavated within the clachan and was possibly used for
storage and or keeping animals. It may be related to the more substantial remains of
building 3 which is located 2 m to the north.
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Building 5 – Group 6
Walls – Subgroup 6001
Context numbers – C.17 and C.18
Description
Building 5 (Plate 6) was constructed with unmortared limestone walls (C.17). It meas-
ured 7.8 m north-east to south-west by 5 m north-west to south-east, enclosing an area of
28 sq m. The western gable wall was defined by a number of large riock outcrops which
formed part of the bank (subgroup 3005) surrounding building 2. The construction of
building 5 was not as neat or regular as the other buildings in the clachan. The walls were
not as defined by outer and inner faces of larger stones and more use was made of bed-
rock. The thickness of the upstanding walls remains varied. The wall could not be traced
effectively along the south western portion of the building and there was no definite en-
trance identified. There were some indications that a line of small to medium sized stones
may have been used to define an entrance passage close to the south western corner of
the building. The building did have an internal dividing wall (C.18) which ran for 1.3 m
from the northern wall towards the southern wall and divided the internal space in two.
Interpretation
The building was internally divided and roughly constructed. It was situated outside the
bank surrounding building 2 at the extreme north-eastern edge of the building group
forming a clachan. It had a different character to other excavated buildings. The ground
fell away to the south of the building and this may account for the less well defined nature
of the building on this side with the slope resulting in a greater degree of natural collapse.
Internal features – Subgroup 6002
Context Numbers – C.22, C.32, C.36, C.37, C31, C.40 and C.41
Description
A layer (C.22) of stiff light pinkish yellow sandy clay covered the base of the building.
This deposit reached a maximum depth of 0.1 m and contained a possible iron nail and
post medieval pottery sherds. Three deposits (C.31, C.41 and C.40) overlay this layer and
one small pit (C.37) cut it. Two of these deposits (C.31 and C.41) were of similar size;
with an average diameter of 0.28 m and each with a maximum depth of 0.05 m. The
third deposit (C.40) was larger measuring 1.7 m north to south and 0.7 m east to west.
This was also shallow, approximately 0.05 m in depth. All three deposits were composed
of similar material; mid pinkish/brownish red clay. One of the deposits (C.31) contained
pieces of slag. The small pit (C.37) measured 0.5 m east to west, 0.45 m north to south
and was 0.22 m in depth. It had moderately sloping concave sides with a circular concave
base. It was filled with firm brown grey sandy silt with occasional small to medium char-
coal pieces and flecks. This pit contained some iron fragments and small pieces of worked
bone which were most likely part of a knife handle. A later deposit of firm mid greyish
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brown silty clay (C.32) with occasional angular pebbles and small stones covered the pit
and the three other internal deposits. It contained iron nails, brick fragments, slag and
animal bone.
Interpretation
The lower deposit was a floor surface upon which a number of deposits possibly related to
burning activities were undertaken. The upper deposit appears to be a later floor surface.
Slag was recovered from all the deposits within the building and this along with the burn-
ing activity might imply that the building was used as a forge or for the production of
metal objects. There was however no evidence for a hearth or furnace.
External features Subgroup – 6003
Context Numbers – C.34, C.21, C.24 and C.38
Description
A small bank of small to medium sized stones in a matrix of firm dark greyish brown
sandy silt (C.34) was identified leading east to the limit of excavation from the external
eastern corner of Building 5. This bank measured 5.2 m east to west, 2.8 m north to south
and 0.65 m in height. A layer of firm mid yellowish brown clayey silt (C.21) with occa-
sional pebbles, and occasional small and medium sub-angular and sub-rounded stones
was identified abutting the exterior face of the northern wall of Building 5. This layer
covered an area of approximately 40 sq m, and reached a maximum depth of 0.23 m. The
deposit contained brick, pottery, iron fragments, slag, shell and animal bone fragments.
Covered by this deposit and located between 4 – 6 m north of the north wall of building 5
were two, single coursed stone platforms (C.24 and C.38). Both platforms were similar in
size measuring approximately 2.6 m north-west to south-east, 1.2 m in width and 0.2 m
in depth and were composed of small and medium sub-angular and sub-rounded stones.
Both platforms were set into the natural subsoil (C.2).
Interpretation
The bank running to the east of the eastern gable wall of building 5 is similar to that sur-
rounding building 2 however its exact function remains unclear. The deposit to the north
of building 5 may be the remains of a buried topsoil which built up after the two stone
platfor,s were no longer used. The platforms themselves may have been used as drying
stands for potatoes or hay.
Building Collapse – Subgroup - 6004
Context Number – C.4
Description
This was a stone (C.4) deposit which overlay the remains of building 5. The deposit
spread across the interior and exterior of the building and consisted of loose sub-angular
and rounded limestone in a matrix of dark brown silty clay. The deposit was up to 0.35
m in depth and contained metal fragments, pottery sherds and slag residues. The deposit
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overlay a buried humic layer (C.48) throughout and was overlain by similar humic rich
topsoil (C.1).
Interpretation
This stone deposit resulted from the collapse of the building after it was abandoned. This
was attested to by the underlying humic deposit which could only have built up over the
site after the building was no longer in use. The collapse may have resulted from the natu-
ral degradation of an abandoned building or was possibly augmented by the robbing of
the building stone. The amount of collapsed rubble excavated would not account for the
amount of stone needed to elevate the walls to any significant height and would suggest
that some stone was removed from the site.
Entrance avenue – Group 7
Context Numbers – C.50 and C.51
Description
A cobbled surface (C.50) ran into the excavation area from north east corner of the site.
The surface ran along the field boundary which marked the south eastern limit of the
excavation and was between 1.6 and 2.8 m wide. It followed a line to the east of build-
ing 3 and to the west of building 4 before running under the southern field boundary
which also marked the limit of excavation. This surface showed evidence of either two
construction phases or possible repair work. The stones were smaller, more rounded and
compressed along its eastern fringes, and larger and more angular on its western limits.
A wall (C.51), built up from a hollow, was recorded on the western edge of the cobbled
surface (c.1 m north-east of Building 3). This wall was built of dry limestone ranging in
size from 0.2 m x 0.2 m x 1.5 m to 0.8 m x 0.6 m x 0.4 m. It was approximately 0.9 m high
and 8 m in length.
Interpretation
The cobbled surface formed an entrance pathway or avenue into the building group or
clachan from the roadway to the north east of the site. The existing field boundary which
forms the south and south western limit of the excavation area is a later feature. The wall
recorded along its eastern edge was likely to have been a revetment wall used to allow
the construction of a relatively flat entrance avenue across an area of rough ground with
extensive rock outcropping.
Wall fragment – Group 8
Context Number – C.33 and C.30
Description
In the southern corner of the site below some collapsed rubble (C.33), a single wall (C.30)
orientated east to west was recorded. This measured 1.8 m in length and 0.55 m in width.
It was built of unmortared limestone, and only a single course of a two stone wide wall
survived. The wall ran up to and under a field boundary wall (C.39) which marked the
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boundary of the excavation. The boundary wall kinked at this point and a short length of
the wall may have been incorporated into the gable wall of a building which lies outside
the limit of excavation.
Interpretation
The wall may be related to a possible building lying outside the limit of excavation.
Field boundary wall – Group 9
Context Number – C.39
Description
The stone wall forms the limit of excavation to the south-west, south and south-east.
The wall was a single stone wide and had a maximum height of 1.5 m. The stones were not
coursed or finished and ranged in size from 2 x 1 x 1 m to 0.2 x 0.2 x 0.2 m.
Interpretation
A modern field boundary.
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Appendix 4 Plant remains
By Penny Johnston
Introduction
A total of four samples were submitted for plant remains analysis from the excavation of a
clachan site at Moyveela 3, Co. Galway. This was a post-medieval site, comprising at least
five buildings and associated features, and the samples produced a small but interesting
assemblage of cereals and weeds.
Methodology
Bulk soil samples were collected on site and were processed by Eachtra Archaeological
Projects. The flots were sorted and scanned for plant material using a low-powered bin-
ocular microscope (magnification x 10 to x 40). Nomenclature and taxonomic orders
follows Stace (1997).
Results and discussion
Of the four samples examined, three contained plant remains (see Table 1 at the end of
this report). Charred seeds were found in small amounts in two samples and in relative
abundance in one sample (see Table 2).
The richest sample, C.36 (S.17), was taken from a pit/post-hole located at the centre
of Building 5. The cereal assemblage included wheat (72%), oat (3%) and indeterminate
cereal grains (25%). A free-threshing variety of wheat was the predominant cereal type;
because of the difficulties involved in the specific identification of wheat (Jones 1998;
Hillman et al., 1996) these grains were not identified to species. Wheat has been a staple
crop in much of Eurasia since the beginnings of cultivation and it is often interpreted as
a high status crop (see Fredengren et al. 2004). However, the retrieval of wheat from an
archaeological site does not necessarily mean that the occupants of the site were eating a
high status diet; they may have been collecting and processing wheat for rent-in-kind or
trade. for example in the later medieval and post-medieval periods wheat was the stand-
ard food crop of the Pale (Nicholls, 2003; 133).
The remaining samples were taken from the bank surrounding building 2 (C.14,
S.20) and from burnt clay (C.12, S.21). Only a small amount of plant remains were found;
these included barley and oat grains. Wheat was completely absent from these samples,
but the fact that only small quantities of plant remains were recovered from these remain-
ing samples means that the relative importance of each grain type is difficult to ascertain.
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Appendix 5 Animal bone
by Margaret McCarthy
Excavations at a post-medieval clachan in Moyveela townland yielded the largest indi-
vidual sample of animal bones along the N18 Oranmore-Gort route. The bulk of these
however were recovered from the topsoil (C1). Cattle and sheep remains dominated the
identifiable sample from the topsoil followed by lesser amounts of horse and pig. Rabbit
bones were relatively common and undoubtedly intrusive. The remaining bones in the
topsoil layer represented the midshaft fragments of longbones from either sheep or cattle.
The inner stone core (C44) of an enclosing bank produced three animal bones: a cow
vertebra, a third phalanx of a sheep and one large mammal fragment. This deposit also
produced a large amount of disarticulated human bone. An associated layer of brown
sandy silt (C42) yielded nine animal bones, including the identified remains of cattle and
sheep/goat.
Horse Cow S/G* Pig Rabbit LM* MM* Total
C1 4 108 145 2 30 49 75 413
C7 1 1 2
C11 4 1 5
C21 1 4 3 19 27
C23 18 4 4 1 27
C28 19 2 21
C32 1 2 3
C42 1 3 1 4 9
C44 1 1 1 3
C45 2 2 5 9
TOTAL 4 129 179 3 30 64 110 519
Table 1: Distribution of mammals
S/G* Sheep/Goat LM* Large mammal MM* Medium mammal
Animal bones were recovered from a number of different buildings within the area
defined by the clachan and are described below by individual building.
Building 1
A layer of collapsed rubble (C11) overlying this structure produced five indeterminate
fragments of long bones from large and medium sized animals, probably cattle and sheep.
Animal bones from a pebble layer (C23) on the exterior of the building were reasonably
well preserved and the bulk of the sample was identified to species level. Cattle and sheep
were the only species present. The sample of 18 cattle bones all represented one skull in-
cluding many fragments of cranial material, three teeth and a few mandible fragments.
Sheep was represented by teeth, a humerus and a tibia, all from an adult individual.
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Building 3
Nine animal bones were found in a secondary floor (C45) within this building. Two were
positively identified as sheep teeth and the remaining bones were classified as large and
medium mammal remains.
A deposit (C7) within the hearth (C8) in this building produced the only evidence
for the occasional consumption of pig at the site. Just two bones were recovered from the
deposit including a complete second phalanx of a pig less than a year old at slaughter.
The other specimen was identified as the midshaft portion of a rib from a medium-sized
animal, probably pig.
Building 5
A trampled layer (C32) within this building produced just three bones one of which was
identified as the midshaft portion of a sheep humerus. The remaining two bones were
not identified to species level but probably originated from a medium-sized mammal such
as sheep. A layer of brown clay (C21) identified along the exterior face of the north wall
of the building produced 27 animal bones. Sheep/goat and cattle were again identified
though the majority (22) of the sample was too fragmentary to be taken to species level.
Building 6
A rubble layer (C28) associated with this building produced 21 animal bones of which 19
were identified as sheep. The sample included portions of a mandible, pelvis, metapodia
and loose teeth, all representing one individual.
Conclusions
The animal bones from Moyveela 3 were mostly recovered from the topsoil and the sam-
ples from earlier features were too small to be able to reconstruct the local animal hus-
bandry at the time the clachan was occupied. Many of the bones came from outside the
walls of the various exposed buildings. These bones were extremely fragmented due to
trampling in what was probably a high traffic area. Cattle and sheep were the two most
abundant species and clearly the most important economically.
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Appendix 6 Human bones
Jonny Geber
A deposition of human remains (C.44; Sample 25) was found within the core of an en-
closing bank surrounding the remains of a building (Building 2) in a post medieval
clachan at Moyveela 3, Co. Galway.
The bones were well preserved but had suffered from fragmentation. The overall size,
age and sex estimation of the remains suggest that they all derive from one single indi-
vidual. The remains are therefore analysed as one skeleton.
Osteological methodology
The osteological methods employed follow recommended standard methodology (Brick-
ley and McKinley 2004; Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994; IAPO 2007). Age was estimated
by assessing the expansion of the diploë layer of the cranial vault (Gejvall in Sigvallius
1994, 10) and degeneration of the auricular surfaces of the hip bones (Lovejoy et al. 1985).
Metrics were taken in accordance with the descriptions by Brothwell (1981). Non-
metric traits were recorded according Finnegan (1978).
Result
What remained of this individual was a virtually complete left parietal bone, the right
head of the mandible, two thoracic vertebrae, fragment of a left rib, fragments of the left
scapula and the left radius, a metacarpal, the right hip bone, fragments of both femora
and fragments of a tibia and fibula from unknown side.
The bones were well preserved. They had suffered post-mortem fragmentation which
had occurred prior to the final deposition.
Age and sex estimation
Assessment of the diploë layer in the cross section of the parietal bone fragments sug-
gested an age at death of between 35–64 years. The degree of degeneration of the auricular
surface on the hip bone indicated an age between 40–44 years. Taking both estimations
into account, an age of death of between 35–44 years is suggested.
The sex was clearly male, based on a narrow sciatic notch in the hip bone. The overall
robusticity of the postcranial bones also indicates a male sex. Stature of this individual
could not be estimated due to lack of measurable bones.
Possible pathology
A possible pathology was noted on the parietal bone fragment. A small blunt indention,
measuring 7x4 mm in size and 1.5 mm deep, was present in the area of the tuber (Plate
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1). This is possibly a trace of healed trauma to the skull, however fragmentation and the
lack of any additional cranial bones hinders a definite concluding diagnosis.
Plate 1 - Possible healed trauma to the left parietal bone
Summary
The human bones found at Moyveela 3 constitute the skeletal remains of one late middle
adult male individual. This individual has potentially suffered from antemortem cranial
trauma, indicated by a possible healed cranial lesion.
The context in which these bones were found is of great interest. Clearly, these re-
mains were very much intentionally placed within the enclosing bank which surrounded
Building 2. No known parallels to this find have been found by the author. A radiocarbon
date of the remains and a discussion of the contextual data surrounding the construction
of the enclosing bank are recommended. This could potentially shed light upon whether
the bones represent a ritual deposition, or if they are just to be viewed upon as an isolated
event.
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Quantification
The lithics are two flaked pieces of chert, one flaked piece of flint, three utilised pieces of
sandstone and three roof slate fragments (Table 1). Eight artefacts are larger than 2 cm in
length and width and were therefore recorded in detail.
Provenance
The finds were recovered from the topsoil (C1), the spoil heap (C3), the rubble of Building
2 (C5) and deposits from the bank which surrounded Building 2 (C14 and C42).
Condition
The lithics survive in variable condition (Table 2). Only one artefact (E3907:14:1) is
complete.
Condition Amount
Reasonably Fresh 2
Patinated 1
Weathered 2
Burnt 3
Total 8
Table 2 Assemblage Condition from Moyveela 3 (E3907)
Technology/Morphology
The worked and used artefacts represent three types of flaking products including one
retouched artefact and three macro tools (Table 3).
Type Amount
Flake 1
Debitage 1
Retouched Artefact 1
Macro Tools 3
Roof Slates 3
Total 9
Table 3 Assemblage Composition from Moyveela 3 (E3907)
The flake (E3907:42:1) is a bipolar example made of flint. It is missing its distal end
and measures 24 mm long, 17 mm wide and 8mm thick.
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The piece of chert debitage (E3907:1:11) suggests that knapping may have taken place
at this site.
Retouched Artefacts
The retouched artefact (E3907:14:1) is a small, classic slug knife. The artefact measures 37
mm long, 17 mm wide and 7 mm thick.
Figure 1 Dimensions (mm) of the Assemblage Components from Moyveela 3 (3907)
Macro Tools
The three macro tools are all made of sandstone and are a fragment of a rotary hone
stone (E3907:1:13), a large rubbing stone (E3907:3:1) and a possible mould/hone stone
(E3907:3:1). The possible may have been designed for a pointed item indicated by the
shaped pointed flat groove in this stone. Its surface is highly polished surface as is to be
expected for a bivalve stone mould, however, it may have been also reused as hone stone
at a later stage.
Dating
The assemblage is technologically and typologically diagnostic and can be divided into
two groups. The rotary hone stone and the roof slate fragments are associated with the
post-medieval clachan. The slug knife is a diagnostic early Bronze Age artefact (Wood-
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Plate 1: Chert slug knife (find E3869:14:1)�
man et al. 2006). The bipolar flint flake dates also to the early Bronze Age. The possible
mould/hone stone may also date to this period.
Conservation
Lithics do not require specific conservation, but should be stored in a dry, stable environ-
ment. Preferably, each lithic should be bagged separately and contact with other lithics
should be avoided, so as to prevent damage and breakage, in particular edge damage
which could later be misinterpreted as retouch. Larger and heavier items are best kept in
individual boxes to avoid crushing of smaller assemblage pieces.
Conclusion
The nine lithic finds from the archaeological excavation at Moyveela 3, Co. Galway are a
bipolar flint flake, a piece of chert debitage, a chert slug knife, a rotary hone stone, a rub-
bing stone, a possible mould/hone stone and three roof slate fragments. The assemblage
is technologically and typologically diagnostic. The rotary hone stone and the roof slate
fragments are associated with the post-medieval clachan, while the remainder of the as-
semblage represent a residual early Bronze Age component at this site.
This site makes a minor contribution to the evidence for prehistoric and post-medieval
settlement and land use in Co. Galway.
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Appendix 8 Quern stone
By Anne Carey
One stone was examined from Moyveela 3, as part of the stone tool specialist analysis.
It comprised a rotary quern fragment. The rotary quern was represented in largely frag-
mented form and without especially diagnostic markings.
The rotary quern from Moyveela 3 had sustained much damage, to the extent that
the diameters of the grinding stone could not be estimated. The dressing of the stone is
uniformly simple, random pock marking. There was no evidence of decorated stone and
the stone did not possess any diagnostic features to allow a closer dating which the date
brackets generally allow (see below).
Catalogue
Moyveela 3 E3907, C 27, Find 1
Rotary quern fragment. Roughly triangular shaped fragment of a rotary quern. The
working surface is flat and well dressed with neat pockmarks. The top and sides are well
dressed. Dimension: Diameter: Inestimable. L 280mm, W 260mm, Th 95mm.
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Appendix 10 Clay pipe catalogue
Only eight clay pipe stems were recovered from site. Given the small size of the fragments
it hasn’t been possible to determine exact dates, though they most likely can all be consid-
ered from the late 19th century on. Five of the stems are topsoil finds. Out of the remain-
ing three stems, two are associated with the activity around Building 1 (E3907:23:1) and
Building 2 (E3907:42:2) respectively. The last one (E3907:47:1) comes from the backfill
of pit cut 46. Given that the core settlement was abandoned in the first half of the 19th-
century these clay pipes probably represent a later, smaller scale use of the site.
Stems
Stem (E3907:1:17) L. 18.4 mm, D. 6.6 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:1:18) L. 34.75 mm, D. 7.5 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:1:19) L. 26.8 mm, D. 7 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:1:20) L. 22.45 mm, D. 5.2 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:1:21) L. 40.8 mm, D. 6.3 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:23:1) L. 15.85 mm, D. 7.05 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:42:1) L. 46.5 mm, D. 6.2 mm. Incomplete.
Stem (E3907:47:1) L. 26.2 mm, D. 5.5 mm. Incomplete.
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Appendix 11 Pottery catalogue
A total of 67 sherds of pottery were recovered on site. They come from five different
contexts. The majority of them (55 sherds) are topsoil finds, while the remaining ones are
from features related to the use and later collapse of building 1 (C.23), building 2 (C.14
and C.44) and building 5 (C.4 and C.21). The clay doesn’t have a particularly fine texture
in any of the pottery types; neither does the glazing composition, perhaps indicating these
were cheaper products.
The assemblage is modern in date, dating around the late 19th/early 20th Century.
All the identified forms can be included in the tableware range and were of daily and
common use. As the pots are largely from later post-abandonment deposits it seems they
represent a later, smaller scale use of the site, perhaps by the occupants of the adjacent
clachan in Coldwood.
The fabrics have been identified through a macroscopic analysis and the gathered in-
formation is presented in Table 2. The table contains the quantity of sherds in each fabric
type, an approximate number of Minimum Vessels Represented (MVR), the Minimum
Number of Vessels (MNV – Based on the presence of rim/handle sherds), and the date
range of the fabric type according to extensive assemblages in Ireland. The identification
of sherds by context is contained in Table 1, together with the probable form of vessels.
Context Pottery Type No. of Sherds Form
1 Black Glazed Ware 52 Bowl/Basin
Glazed Red Earthenware 1 ?
Pearlware 1 Bowl
Stoneware 1 Tankard
4 Black Glazed Ware 1 Bowl
Stoneware 2 ?
14 Black Glazed Ware 4 Bowl
Pearlware 2 Plate
21 Glazed Red Earthenware 1 Plate
23 Black Glazed Ware 1 Bowl
44 Stoneware 1 Tankard/Jug
Table 1�List of Pottery by context
Type Tot. Sherds MVR MNV Dating
Black Glazed ware 58 >3 1 19th century
Glazed Red earthenware 2 >1 - 19th century
Pearlware 3 >1 - 19th century
Stoneware 4 2 - 19th/20th century
Table 2�List of pottery by type
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Plate 1: Black glazed ware tureen (find E3907:1:26)�
Plate 2: Black glazed ware tureen (find E3907:1:26)� View from above�
Black Glazed ware
Black wares were produced in North Wales, in Lancashire and in parts of Ireland in the
18th and 19th Centuries (Mc Cutcheon 2003). The production of black glazed storage and
food processing vessels started during the late 16th to 17th centuries and continued into the
20th century. At first they were imported to Ireland, but in the middle of the 18th century
local production had started (Meenan 1997). The fabric is orange/dark red clay, of less
highly fired type of red earthenware. The glaze is rich in iron and looks glossy and thick.
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The forms present belong to a tableware range of vessels that can be glazed internally or
externally, depending on the use.
A total of 58 fragments were recovered in Moyveela 3; they all belong to the same
form of vessel, a thick-bodied bowl of large dimension, either used as table tureen or as a
food storage container. The sherds can be linked to at least three different vessels. One of
them (find E3907:1:26) in particular presents a good portion of the rim and part of the
shoulder intact. It is a large bowl (approximate Ø 33 cm.) with a flat, engrossed rim trian-
gular in shape. A small, oval in section, half-hanging handle is positioned horizontally on
the upper part of the shoulder, right below the rim. A second identical handle was most
likely present on the opposite side of the vessel, but is now missing. The glaze is thick and
glossy and was casually poured on the vessel, leaving unglazed spots around the rim and
close to the vessel base, which is completely spared (see Plate 1 and 2).
Glazed Red Earthenware
The sherds have a hard-fired, fine fabric that is orange/red, buff or brown in colour with-
out any particular inclusions. The different range of colours of the clay simply depends
on the variation of firing conditions. The pottery is usually glazed on the inner surface
and presents no other decorations. The nuance of the glaze changes from a light yellow
to an opaque green. Most of the sherds belong to open vessels, like bowls (of various size),
plates and pancheons. This type of ware, also known as ‘brownwares’ was made widely in
Britain and Ireland from the late 17th to 19th Century ( Cleary 1987, 127).
Two sherds of glazed red earthenware are included in the assemblage: a rim sherd
from C.21 with a green-yellowish glaze and a body sherd from C.1 with a glittery brown
glaze. In both cases the glazing is sparsely applied on the inside and barely visible on the
outside.
Pearlware
The pearlware pottery started its development from the popular cream-coloured earthen-
ware in the last decades of the 18th century. Though the fabric and the range of forms of
both wares are similar, the lead glaze used for the creamware is whiter, due to the addition
of small amounts of cobalt blue (Gahan 1997).
One base, one rim and one body sherd collected from site, all belonging to tableware,
probably a bowl and a plate. Plain yellowish glazing was laid on both sides of the frag-
ments, apart from a spared exterior band running below the rim.
Stoneware
This class of clay and ceramic is distinguished by its firing and maturation temperature
(from ca.1200°C to 1315°C), which is higher than for the earthenware pottery and makes
the stoneware recipients totally waterproof. Stoneware is usually grey or brownish in col-
our and is normally covered by an opaque glaze.
Three tankard sherds glazed in brown on both sides were recovered on site.
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Appendix 12 Glass catalogue
A total of 34 glass fragments were recovered from site. They all are bottle fragments; all
but one of a dark green glass gazed on the exterior and sometimes on the interior too.
The only clear glass (E3907:45:1, see Plate 1) is a bottle neck fragment with everted rim,
probably used to store medicines or lotions rather than drinks. Given their machine-made
bases, all the bottles can be dated in the first half of the 20th century indicating they
represent a later, smaller scale use of the site, perhaps for refuse disposal for the adjacent
clachan at Coldwood.
Context No. Description No. of pieces
1 - topsoil Bottle fragments 25
11 - rubble Bottle fragments 1
14 - bank Bottle fragments 7
45 - floor Bottle fragments 1
Table 1� Glass by context
Description TOT of Pieces Dating
Bottle Body Fragments 20 Modern
Bottle Base Fragments 8 Modern
Bottle Neck Fragments 6 Modern
TOT.34
Table 2� Glass by type
Plate 1: Bottle neck with everted rim�
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